Magic of the Soul
by Aethilius
Summary: Toushiro Hitsugaya was captured by Gin Ichimaru and Sosuke Aizen, and was sent into the Void, a place of emptiness to die alone. Instead, he awakens in Fiore, an unfamiliar world. And he's stuck there. How will he fare in the new world? And more importantly, will he ever see Soul Society again?
1. Captured

**Magic of the Soul  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Fairy Tail (later on).**

**AN: Hi guys! This is my first ever fanfiction, so do pardon me if there are many mistakes that you notice. Just trying out writing, and having fun in the process :)**

* * *

Matsumoto… Momo…

Hitsugaya watched on from afar helplessly as Rangiku Matsumoto, his vice-captain, and Momo Hinamori, his dear childhood friend, were being dragged away into the darkness, their mouths forming silent screams of terror. He knew he couldn't reach there in time to save them.

Bit by bit, black slimy hands apparated out of nowhere, and they began to twist and turn, slithering around their bodies, to the point where only their eyes were left exposed. From Hitsugaya's view, he watched them slowly close their eyes in defeat, apparently succumbing to their inevitable fates.

"NOOOOOOO!"

* * *

"Hey. Wake up."

Toushiro Hitsugaya jolted awake. His heart was racing, droplets of perspiration trickling down his face. What a bad dream he had…

Something felt odd though. Something didn't feel right.

"Where... Am I?"

He could barely see anything. The room was dimly lit, with only a single flickering bulb to provide light. The air felt stale, devoid of proper ventilation, giving the stench of a rotting corpse. He tried moving. Horrified, he saw tough metallic chains being bound tightly to him, hands and legs spread out, with each limb being linked to the cracked concrete wall. Struggling with futile effort, the chains dug deeper into his skin, causing him to yelp in pain. His zanpakuto was gone. He couldn't sense it anywhere. He was trapped. How did he even end up in here…?

"Over here. Bad dream you had, I suppose? You were causing such a ruckus." A soft voice reverberated throughout the small area.

Surprised, Hitsugaya's eyes travelled to the source of the voice. Craning his neck to the far corner of the room, he noticed a silhouette against the faint light, shaped like a person sitting on a rocking chair. The figure made no other sound, but instead started to swing back and forth on his chair gently, as how a mother rocking her newborn baby to sleep would.

"Who're you..?" Hitsugaya made a feeble attempt at sounding tough.

"Dear me Hitsugaya. Only a day has passed and you've already forgotten my voice? Seems like the drug was more powerful than I thought it would be…" The other voice trailed off.

Come to think of it, that voice did seem familiar somehow. But Hitsugaya just couldn't figure out its owner. Just who was it?

"I guess I'll just have to show you to make you remember, don't I?" The voice resounded with an amused tone. Standing up, the figure shuffled towards the center of the room, where most of the light could still travel to without dying out.

Hitsugaya gasped in shock.

_**Gin Ichimaru.**_

His eyes, as per usual, were narrowed down to slits. Rarely has anyone ever seen him open them wide. Slender and tall, he easily towered over Hitsugaya's miniscule form. And as always, that creepy smile he wore on his face similar to one a Guy Fawkes mask would display. Hitsugaya never liked him. The sight of Ichimaru irked him, because it always looked as if he was never serious, and that it was difficult to trust anything he says. Very few people in Seireitei could get along with him. Forever cunning, forever sly…

"You look worse for wear."

'Shut up." Hitsugaya snarled at him.

"Oops. In case you haven't noticed, I'm in full control of you right now. And shouldn't you be more respectful toward your elders, Hitsugaya-kun?" Ichimaru smirked.

"Damn you Ichimaru! I'm not a kid! I swear I'll rip you to pieces when you're caught for treason!" Hitsugaya roared, tugging at the chains again in fury, which only resulting in more agony.

Ichimaru knelt down beside the thrashing Hitsugaya. "Now now... Instead of struggling and giving yourself unnecessary pain, don't you want to know if your loved ones are safe?" he cooed into the teenager's ear.

Hitsugaya froze. "No need to be so tense. I was joking. They're okay. No harm done. Don't wanna be involving too many people now, do we?"

"How did I end up here then?" Hitsugaya asked hesitantly, unsure of whether to believe his answer.

"Ahh. I'll save you the details, but we used drugs as I've mentioned to knock you out. Reijuana. I put it in your drink yesterday, and since you were alone in the office, what better time to do it?" Ichimaru shrugged. "Aizen wanted you captured, so I had no choice but to follow orders."

_Sosuke Aizen. That bastard._

"What for?" Hitsugaya demanded. "We're not on good terms, but that doesn't give him any particular reason to go to such extremes!"

"As a matter of fact, there is. You accidently found him testing his new drug on some on the lower-leveled shinigami. But that's just the start. He's planning something way bigger than you could ever imagine. Not that you can concern yourself with it anyway, given your state now."

The recollection suddenly struck him. How stupid he was. Hitsugaya grimaced at his stupidity. That was a week ago, and it did leave him suspicious. However, he never actually made a move to report to the Commander of the captains, Shigekuni Yamamoto, and merely confronted Aizen. All he got in reply was that the shinigami were undergoing their regular reiatsu tests, and he pursued the matter no further. Who knew that they were actually experimental subjects... And right under his nose too. Damn it.

"And being the careful planner Aizen is, you know he would never want to leave loose ends. He suspects that you realized, hence his motive for capturing you." Ichimaru added airily.

"So what now? Are you going to kill me?" Hitsugaya remained defiant.

Chuckling, the lanky man stood up. "Well, Aizen wanted you dead. But after some reassuring from me, he decided to let me do whatever I wanted with you. As long as the end result is your death."

"But he can't get away with this. The other captains will notice my disappearance in time." Hitsugaya retorted.

"And that's where you're wrong my boy. Aizen used his powers and made a copy of you. Another living you. Completely identical to you, down to the smallest skin cell of your body. The soul of another was supposed to fill up that body, but for your case… He couldn't find another soul, since he needs to kill to obtain a new soul. So how should I put it…? That body is** empty**." Ichimaru's lips arched upwards further than they already were.

"I think we've wasted enough time here." He reached within his robes, and pulled out a small device. Shining gold and no bigger than an orange, it sat on his palm, with only a single button resting on the top. Waving it around like as though he just won a trophy, he murmured, "I've always wanted to try this. Kurotsuchi was always the stubborn one... What's the point of inventing something if you won't even put it to use, right?"

"And what's that? A toy?" Hitsugaya sarcastically replied.

"Not for kids, that's for sure." That earned another deathly glare from the spiky haired boy. "This… Is a Spherili. And it has to power to teleport you into the Void. In the Void, you can never return from your starting point unless another Spherili is used from the same place to open the portal again. You will never come back again, that's for sure." Ichimaru reassured him mockingly.

"Why y-"

He hurled the object directly at Hitsugaya, which made contact and glued itself to his chest. Shuddering violently, the protruding button on the Spherili gaped open, revealing a small hole. Deep purple matter gushed out, enveloping Hitsugaya's dwarfed body, chains included. Soon enough, only his eyes were exposed, all other parts clad in thick purple plasma, making him look like a knight.

He closed his eyes slowly in defeat, knowing he would never see Seireitei and its people again. His inevitable fate. Just like his dream. Except that he was the victim now, and that this was reality…

"Goodbye, Hitsugaya."

The voice faded into nothingness, and his line of vision went blank. 

* * *

**And there! My first chapter. Who knew that writing a fanfic would be so tiring mentally...**

**How d'you guys find it? Any constructive feedback will be greatly appreciated :)**

**Looking forward to the next chapter, and thanks for your time!**


	2. Fairy Tail

**Magic of the Soul**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Fairy Tail.**

**AN: I'm back with Chapter 2! I've been trying to make the chapter longer, but I could only get it up to this much. I'll try harder for the next one, promise! But I'm really enjoying writing this, and am hoping to release a new chapter about once a week, hopefully! Anyways, please enjoy!**

**Chapter 2: Fairy Tail**

* * *

_**Purple.**_

That was the only thing, or color, that Hitsugaya could see, as he hurtled through the vast area like a human bullet, which is known to the residents of Seireitei as the _Void._ The place was considerably lit, but so wide, that he was unable to see anything else. Emptiness.

Then, he suddenly realized he couldn't breathe properly.

He felt constricted; his lungs were fighting for air. His chest was slowly tightening, compressing his insides. All the oxygen he had to survive with was the deep breath he clumsily took in before being swallowed into the Void. He could only focus on holding his breath. Slowly, he felt his consciousness fading away. He was going to die. Alone.

And for the second time, he blacked out.

* * *

"Captain Aizen. It has been done. Toushiro Hitsugaya has been sent into the Void."

"I see. Well done, Ichimaru. Depending on the results, our preparations will be nearly complete. Nobody will be able to stop us, be it the people of Seireitei, or Earthland." The bespectacled man softly replied, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"D'you think he'll survive though?" Ichimaru had a quizzical expression on his face. "None of our test subjects had ever survived the journey. Mainly due to the lack of air there."

"Ah. That's why I picked him." Aizen looked smug. "Honestly, I didn't think that it would be _that _easy to capture him. We were extremely fortunate. Besides, his potential is substantial. Better than any of us, if I had to admit, even though he's the youngest. He'll live. But for now, we have to watch him carefully."

"And once we are done, there's nothing he can do to stop us."

* * *

Hitsugaya's eyes fluttered open.

"Am I dead...?"

All he knew was that he was in a state of bliss. He felt so comfortable. Relaxed and free of worry. The warm blankets he was snuggling in shielding him from the cooling atmosphere. The soft cotton of the bed sheets tantalizingly drawing him back to slumber.

**Wait, what?**

He sat bolt upright. Warily, he gazed around at his surroundings.

He was in a cozy room. Multiple chairs and sofas were littered around the place. Backed up against the wall was a flat television filling up the entire area, stretching out to the four corners. Hitsugaya stared in awe. He had never seen anything as huge as that. Thick encyclopedias filled up bookshelves at least four times the height of Hitsugaya himself. A meeting table in the centre...

The door opened abruptly.

Cautiously, Hitsugaya scanned the place. But nobody entered. His ears sensed light footsteps over the carpet, but his eyes were unable to spot any signs of life. Was it a ghost? A spirit?

The footsteps stopped directly underneath his bed.

Heart pumping frantically, he peered over the side of the bed.

"BOO!"

"WAAAH!"

Hitsugaya toppled over, and landed bottom first. Scowling in pain, he sat up and glared at the culprit.

"Who're you?"

An old man, balding with only the outer rims of his head having white spiked hair, grunted in reply. He picked himself up. He was of the same height as Hitsugaya sitting down, surprisingly. "Makarov Dreyar. Guild Master of Fairy Tail."

The teenager blinked in reply.

"Well.. I don't expect you to understand anything. You don't look like a citizen of Earthland. Are you a magic user?" Makarov stared at him suspiciously.

"M-Magic?" Hitsugaya blurted out.

"Let's see. Do you even know what magic is here?"

"Umm.. The type where you make a rabbit disappear after putting it into a magician's hat?" He confusedly replied.

Makarov face-palmed. "Tell me. Where did you come from?"

"Well.. I come from a place called Soul Society. I'm a shinigami." Makarov looked taken aback. "Our job is to govern it. To ensure the balance of souls between the human world and Soul Society. To cleanse the Hollows."

"Hollows?" Makarov repeated.

"Yeah. Creatures who were originally human souls, but do not cross over to Soul Society for some reason. When they stay in the human world for an excessive period of time, these souls are born as Hollows. They feed on living human souls in physical bodies, hence our need to cleanse them." Hitsugaya explained. "But I don't think this is important now.. Seeing that this isn't Soul Society. Or the human world that I know of."

The old man nodded. "You are in a world called Earthland. This, is the kingdom of Fiore. And we are now in the city of Magnolia, a merchant city rich in magic. Throughout the continent, only ten percent of its inhabitants are able to use magic. However.. Here, at least half of the people are wizards, people who are able to wield magic."

His small hand gestured for Hitsugaya's attention. "Like this."

He opened his palm. Bolts of electricity sizzled around his hand, travelling upwards towards his shoulder. Closing his palm again, the yellow flashes dissipated. "That, is magic. One of the many forms."

Hitsugaya's cerulean eyes widened. "It looks like Kidou. Spells which are used by the shinigami during battle. Offense, defense, healing, it's all there. We shinigami use spiritual pressure to exert these spells. Reiatsu."

"I understand. I can sense a type of energy within you. Different from ours, but similar in some ways as well." The senior smiled dryly. " For us, it's inbuilt. Either you're a wizard, or you're not. The only things that wizards need are concentration and focus."

"By the way, I still don't know your name, m'boy."

Perplexed, and slightly irritated that he was being called a boy, he scowled. "Toushiro Hitsugaya. Nice to meet you. And I'm **not** a kid."

"Getting sensitive, eh?" He sniggered.

Hitsugaya glared away. Then it dawned on him.

Hyorinmaru, his zanpakuto. It wasn't with him. Aizen and Ichimaru must've stolen it while he was knocked out. If they destroyed it, he would be powerless. The reiatsu residing within his body will not be able to sync with the sword, so no spiritual pressure can be expelled. His eyes sunk in despair.

"My zanpakuto." He muttered darkly. "My captors stole it from me. I think.. I might have lost my powers."

"Try using one of your kidou spells."

"Here? In an enclosed area?! If the spell still works, this place wouldn't even be called a place anymore!"

"Ha! Sounds exciting. Let's see it." The older man gleefully rubbed his hands.

Swearing silently under his breath, Hitsugaya whipped around and took aim at the dart board pasted on the wall at the far end of the room.

He took in a deep breath. "Hado 31: Shakkaho!"

A glowing red orb started to charge on his outstretched palm. It pulsated, getting bigger and bigger...

_Phutt. _

The ball extinguished, small wisps of smoke emitting out from his now, empty palm. Downcast, he hung his head.

Makarov, noticing the spell's failure, hopped up and whacked him on the head. "It's not over, brat. Although it seems like you've lost your powers, it might be possible to regain them back."

"How..."

"Learn magic, of course!"

The adolescent jerked his head up, looking skeptical. "Me, magic? We are talking about two different kinds of powers here. It won't work. For sure." He fought back flatly.

"Hold it there." He held up his wrinkled hand. "From what I can feel, your reiatsu and our magic does have some similar properties. Both of us need to place immense emphasis on the casting of the spell, and think of nothing else. Both of us use spiritual energy to cast the magic or spells. Both of u-"

"Okay okay, I get it. You mentioned." Hitsugaya glowered. "I'll try to learn magic. I'm stuck here indefinitely anyway, might as well. When can we start?"

"Woah. What's the rush? Like you said, since you're stuck here and since you're new, why don't you meet your new family first?" Makarov grinned mischievously.

"Family? What are you tal-" He stopped mid-sentence, gaping at his foot.

A symbol was inscribed onto his skin around his ankle. He ran a finger over the azure marking. It was no bigger than his fist, with the head and body of a phoenix, and the tail of a fairy.

"W-What... But how... What is this?" He whispered.

"Ah." The guild master beamed with pride. "**That**, is our guild symbol. Brat, you're officially a member of the Fairy Tail guild now."

Hitsugaya was indignant. "But how could you just do it without my permission?! I never agreed to this! What if... What if I found a way to go back to Soul Society?! I'm not gonna stay here forever, you know! And I say again, I'm not a kid!"

"There there. You sound just like a kid. Why don't you go downstairs and get to know some of your future playmates?" Makarov wryly smiled.

The youngster winced at being called a kid yet again, and immediately turned on his heel, marching off, slamming the door behind him.

Grimly, the old man stared out of the window, not paying attention to the hustling activities of the city. He sighed. That boy's potential was at a level where it was hard to judge. Only time could tell. Possibly a formidable mage, or he could merely turn out to be average. His willpower will determine everything. But for now, the guild master made a mental note to keep track of the boy's development.

* * *

Hitsugaya had stormed off, and was trying to find the staircase the guild master had mentioned. He hoped the other guild members wouldn't make fun of his age and size.

In fact, his age wasn't something to be made fun of. In Soul Society, the residents there age much more slowly than how a normal human would in the human world. He was already approaching a hundred years, which was relatively young, as compared to the other captains. Captains such as Sousuke Aizen are already at least a few hundred years of age.

_Sousuke Aizen... What was he planning?_

He didn't notice the staircase directly in front of him, being too preoccupied with his thoughts. He tumbled down the stairs, yelling in pain each time he bounced off the steps. Finally landing with a thud, he scrambled up and looked around, his eyes scrutinizing the place.

_Chaos. Utter Chaos._

The place would've put a market at peak hours to shame. It was crowded with people, a beehive of activity. Arm wrestling, alcohol drinking, card games, random small talk, even mini brawls were all happening at once. Hitsugaya's jaw dropped. A beer bottle was flying straight to his face and he narrowly dodged it by ducking.

"Good dodge, son!" A random voice hollered from the bar.

For a moment Hitsugaya thought he was locked in a mental asylum.

"FAIRY TAIL!"

The whole place fell silent. Eyes were directed at Hitsugaya, or to be exact, behind him.

The tiny aged man stood a few steps above Hitsugaya, with his eyes surveying everyone. He signaled towards the white haired youngster. "Members of Fairy Tail. I hereby present to you with our newest addition to the family, Toushiro Hitsugaya!"

Thundering roars of approval followed. Some of the younger members charged up towards Hitsugaya and tackled him to the floor, words of greetings spewing from their mouths. He desperately attempted to squirm his way free, but there were too many people crowded around him to break loose. In the end, all that could be heard was his muffled bellows for freedom.

Hearty laughter echoed around the room at the sight of the helpless, struggling new member, stuck in deadlock with at least five people.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Hitsugaya." Makarov chortled.

* * *

**And that concludes Chapter 2. How did you guys find it? Any constructive comments, feedback or criticism will be greatly appreciated as it'll help me improve my writing :) **

**Really looking forward to the next chapter, and thanks for your time! I hoped you've enjoyed it as much I did writing it.  
**

**Aethilius signing out~**


	3. Reclamation

**Magic of the Soul**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Fairy Tail.**

**AN: Chapter 3! I'm not used to writing such lengths (which isn't even comparable to how long the better ones are), but I hope it suffices. Anyways, the introductions are nearly finished, and the action is starting to heat up. Probably. Definitely more than the first two chapters though. **

**Without further ado, enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: Reclamation**

* * *

_What a day._

Hitsugaya had finally managed to escape the havoc within the guild hall, missing a few random flying kicks by a hair's breadth as he hurriedly dashed out of the place. He found a comfy armchair at the porch and rested on it, sighing in relief. He wasn't worn out though, even though he had been spending most of the time scuffling with the guild members who jumped on him and ruffled his hair at random times, since he had been knocked out since morning according to Makarov.

Finally... Some peace and quiet.

Hitsugaya mulled over the events which occurred over the past day. The Fairy Tail members were a boisterous bunch, but amiable and approachable. He couldn't even recall any of the names introduced to him though. Even so, most of them described him as "a cute, young boy", which was infuriating...

And then there was Gin Ichimaru and Sosuke Aizen. He was worried about Seireitei and Soul Society, and the rest of the captains. God knows what they could be scheming, but he couldn't do anything about it. He still couldn't understand why he wasn't directly killed off. Why did they send him into the Void instead?

He felt uneasy. If Aizen was indeed targeting him because of the realization that illegal tests were being performed on the trainee shinigamis, knowing Aizen's personality, he would have taken action immediately to silence Hitsugaya. Why wait out a week before the capture? Besides, he didn't even realize about it till Ichimaru let him in the know. It was suspicious, but he was unable to make any clue of it.

Giving up, he took a moment to appreciate the picturesque view. The dark, night sky was filled with twinkling stars. The guild building had an elevated position above the town, so it was easy to catch sight of the immeasurable houses and towers scattered across the city. With that distance, it was comparable to an assembly of stationary fireflies, the dim illumination somewhat brightening up the surroundings. Hitsugaya never got to experience such a scene ever, due to most of his years being under training, and after being promoted to captain, constantly handling paperwork, emergencies, captain duties and the endless waves of Hollows to deal with.

For the first time in years, he felt truly calm and composed.

"I see you're already settling down here nicely."

Startled, he opened his eyes to see the outline of a person standing in front of him. He squinted to get a better look in the shadiness. The stranger was obviously taller than him, and possessed a well built and toned physique, with spiky black hair, his dark blue irises showing through the reflection of the pale moonlight. Hitsugaya noticed the Fairy Tail mark just below his collarbone, on his right chest.

"I'm Gray Fullbuster. Pleasure to meet you." The standing figure spoke again.

Then Hitsugaya realized something.

"Umm.. You're not wearing any clothes."

"AHHH! Wait for me here!"

He rolled his eyes as Gray sped back into the building, his hands covering his privates. How on earth does a person forget to wear his clothing before stepping out, let alone forgetting to wear them at all?

Moments later Gray reappeared.

"Sorry about that. I've a tendency to forget wearing my clothes. It feels more comfortable for me not to wear clothes." He was huffing.

"But you're only wearing your boxers now." Hitsugaya replied, dumbstruck.

"Ah damn it, it's good enough." Gray snapped, and took a seat on the bench beside the white-haired boy's armchair.

The two of them sat in silence for awhile. He vaguely recalled seeing Gray and yet another spiky haired teenager with pink hair clashing a few hours back. Something to do with melting bananas...

"I'm Toushiro Hitsugaya." He returned with the late greeting matter of factly.

"Oh. Yeah. Gramps was telling us about you. So you're not from this world, eh?"

Hitsugaya nodded his head. "Long story."

More awkward silence.

Hitsugaya tried to break the ice. "I saw you fighting with another guild member over something just now... Is everything okay?"

Gray frowned. "Yup. We fight all the time, that's a normal scene you'll see every day. That guy's name is Natsu Dragneel. He uses fire magic, and burnt my bananas while spraying that stupid flame everywhere... Idiot. What you can call all brawn and no brains."

"So... Fairy Tail is that chaotic, huh?"

"You haven't even seen half of it." Gray laughed in reply. "The chaos bonds us members together though."

He didn't know whether to take that as good news or not.

Gray noticed the expression on his face, holding back more laughter. "You'll get used to it in no time, don't worry. By the way, there's something I want to ask you, if you don't mind."

Hitsugaya shot him a curious look, gesturing for him to carry on.

"What type of magic d'you use? Or power, whichever you call it in your world."

He pondered over the question for awhile. "If I had to say... Ice? But then again I do use other elements minimally."

Gray clapped his hands. "Good. Gramps was right then. I'm an ice magic user, similar to you by a certain extent. The master asked me to help you out in learning magic, or regaining your powers. Whichever."

He raised an eyebrow. "Wait. How did Makarov know that?"

"He's more amazing than you think. He can sense your spiritual energy. Ice magic users are one of the easiest magical types to detect. The aura around you will feel cooler than usual. And most of them hate heat too. Just like me. Hence the not wearing clothes thing." He casually pointed to his bare chest.

Hitsugaya was distinctly reminded of his dislike for the summer season. And warm weather in general.

"Anyway, y-you really think that it's possible for my powers to come back?" Hitsugaya asked dubiously.

"To be honest, no idea." Gray responded pensively. "I've never seen such a thing. We'll only know when we try. But no harm trying either. How does tomorrow morning at the nearby forest sound?"

The short teenager made an involuntary sound of agreement.

The taller guy stood up. "Well, it was nice talking to you. I'll see you there at sunrise then."

He strode off into the house once again, shutting the door gently behind him.

* * *

_"Master Toushiro..."_

Hitsugaya was rudely awakened. The whole place was blinding, causing him to screw up his eyes to adjust his vision.

"_Master Toushiro..."_

The voice sounded frail. It sounded like an elderly person, laying on his deathbed. It sounded so pitiful.

"Hello?!" Hitsugaya shouted out.

He quickly got up and started walking. His footsteps reverberated throughout the boundless area. There didn't seem to be any obstacles around him. Just whiteness. Pure whiteness.

"HELLO?!"

No reply. He had no idea where he was going. He continued his stride on the clean, bleached floor. He must've walked for a good ten minutes when he finally heard the voice again.

"_Over here..."_

Hitsugaya spun around. Then he saw it.

A tall man with an icy blue, X-shaped mark extending across his face. He had gray eyes, and long, teal-green hair reaching his lower back. There was a scarf-shaped piece of ice on his shoulders which reached around the back of his neck, and his arms and legs were completely covered in ice. He wasn't moving, just there lying on his back. His breathing was shallow, looking to be nearly dead.

_**Hyorinmaru.**_

Crying out in anguish, Hitsugaya scurried over to the person, and knelt beside him. There were no physical injuries inflicted on him, so it should be his spiritual energy weakening...

_"Master." _his unfocused eyes were somewhat directed towards Hitsugaya. The youngster had to lean forward to distinguish his words._ "You're finally here."_

"What... What happened to you?! Are you okay? How did you end up like this?!"

_"Aizen... H-He sucked out most of the spiritual energy w-within me, in sword form. I'm still a-alive because he left some inside. K-Kurotsuchi has fallen. He has t-taken over all of his r-research. The other c-captains haven't realized a-anything yet though."_ He seemed breathless after speaking such a length of words.

Hitsugaya was horrified. "What about the rest?! Are they okay?!"

_"Y-Yes. For now..."_

He clenched his fists, and punched the ground in frustration. That asshole. How many more people is he going to involve in this?!

_"Y-You need to master magic, master. That's the only w-way left. The only method of s-stopping that guy."_

"But I'm stuck in Earthland! I can't do anything even if learn magic!" He wailed in hopelessness.

_"H-He will come. He will come to conquer..." _His eyes were closing.

"What d'you mean?!"

He didn't reply.

"Hyorinmaru?! Answer me! He's gonna conquer what?!"

The world was starting to spin around.

"HYORINMARU!"

* * *

"Hitsugaya-san!"

Somebody was shaking Hitsugaya, albeit rather leniently.

"Are you okay?"

His eyes sprung open, his forehead moist with sweat. His eyes were stinging from the glare of the sun's rays.

In front of him stood a petite girl, sporting long, dark blue hair that grew down to her waist, with two bangs framing her head which reached down to her chest. A worried look was painted on her face. He made eye contact with her brown eyes and she jumped in surprise.

"I-I saw you muttering in your sleep, a-and you looked kinda disturbed, s-so…" she stammered.

"Thanks. I'm fine, it was just a bad dream. Don't worry about it, alright?" Hitsugaya made a forced attempt at a smile.

The girl looked much more relieved. "I-I'm Wendy Marvell. Nice to meet you!" She exclaimed, bowing her head so low that she knocked it against the armrest of the chair Hitsugaya was resting on. "Ouch!"

"Oh man, are you okay?" Hitsugaya had to hold back a laugh, this time without compulsion. He knew he shouldn't, but the scene looked hilarious. He knelt down beside her, who was sitting on the floor rubbing her head tenderly with her palm. "Does it hurt?"

"Hahaha… I'm fine! Just a bit clumsy I guess!" She cheerfully replied, still massaging the bruised area.

She looked cute. Probably due her young look. Not the Hitsugaya young, just youngish young. It painfully reminded him of Momo Hinamori, his childhood friend, despite their different personalities, and the fact that he had only known Wendy for a few minutes. Hinamori was upbeat and easy-going, while she seemed to be more nervous, based on his observation of her so far. But their actions had similarities. Relatively at least.

He straightened up. "That's good. I'm Toushiro Hitsugaya. Pleased to meet."

"Umm… Is calling you Hitsugaya-san okay?"

He motioned noncommittally in agreement.

Wendy's smile brightened. "How have you been? You didn't look so good when I found you laying out in the open a couple of days ago…"

He gaped at her.

"You were the one who found me?" He repeated in astonishment.

"Y-Yes! I was just out and around the area taking a walk, when I saw your unconscious body on the ground and all chained up to some big slab of wall. I went to call for help from the other members after that…" Her voice drifted off.

Hitsugaya was dumbfounded. So the whole wall, chains included, was sucked into the Void with him. The Spherili was a terrifying device indeed. Of course, it was invented by Kurotsuchi, so that was to be expected. But now that he has fallen to Aizen, or at least might have fallen, things looked grave.

"Hitsugaya-san?"

Wendy had stood up, and was looking at him curiously.

"Oops, sorry. It's nothing. Thanks, by the way. You really helped me out there even though I wasn't there to see it." He couldn't involve Fairy Tail at this stage. Not now. He didn't even know if what Hyorinmaru said in the dream was real. And he didn't want to burden them with unnecessary trouble.

"No problem! I'm glad to be able to help! By the way, aren't you supposed to meet Gray for the training?"

Hitsugaya could tell that he was late, since the sun had risen well above the horizon.

"Oh no... And I forgot to ask him how to get to the forest." He muttered.

"I-I can bring you there if you want!" The blue haired girl offered.

"Thanks, but I don't wanna have to trouble you again." He replied.

"N-No it's fine! Actually I've only just joined Fairy Tail about a month ago, and I'm not in any team yet. So I'm usually free…"

Hitsugaya bowed slightly in apology. "Sorry to have to spend your time again."

"Hahaha, it's okay! I'm very free anyway. Let's go then!"

And they trudged off, down the inclined path towards the city.

* * *

The duo walked in silence for about half an hour before catching sight of the topless guy. At least he was wearing jeans this time.

"Ah. You're finally here."

They were near the outskirts of the mass of vegetation, where a sizable area of conifer trees had been cleared to leave behind a round region of trimmed grass.

"Sorry about that. I overslept." Hitsugaya replied in a low tone.

Gray waved the apology off. He didn't seem displeased. "No worries. I was wondering if it was too early for you too."

Wendy emerged from behind the white haired boy's back. "H-Hi Gray-san! Hitsugaya-san didn't know the way, s-so I brought him here."

The ice wizard's eyes lit up in acknowledgement, and he patted her on the head. "My bad. I forgot to give him the directions last night. Thanks Wendy! You wanna stay and watch?"

The girl's eyes widened. "Can I?! I would love to!"

"But of course." Gray said warmly.

She merrily scampered over to the edge of the circle, tripping over a stone halfway.

Gray called over. "Be careful Wendy! How many times are you gonna fall?!"

"S-Sorry! I'm just clumsy…" Groaning in pain, she slowly rose to her feet, teetering her way towards a seasoned stump of the tree before plopping herself on it, nursing her bruised knee.

Hitsugaya glanced over at her. "Will she be okay?"

"Yep. She has healing magic. She'll be alright."

"So there's healing magic here too… I guess maybe the two worlds do have more in common than I thought." He thought aloud.

Gray's lips curled upward. "That you're right. Shall we start?"

"Yup."

"Alright. I'm not exactly sure about how your powers work, or if they work the same way as how magic in Earthland does. But we'll just try it using the normal method first, and work our way from there. Any objections?"

Hitsugaya returned the question by shaking his head.

"Cool. Let me give a brief explanation first. Magic, over here, is the physical embodiment of the spirit. When our physical spirits connects with the spiritual flow of nature, the spirit forms magic as a product of the connection. It takes an enormous amount of concentration and mental ability to use magic. It's to harmonize between the two entities, basically."

He nodded his head.

"What I want you to do now is to focus only on your soul's energy. Don't be distracted by anything else. Concentrate only on it. Guide this energy towards your hand, your palm, and feel it releasing. It's a natural process once you're used to it. Like this. Stand back."

Hitsugaya moved over, positioning himself behind the mage.

Gray punched both fists together, and then separated them moments later. White specks of snow materialized around his fists, circling around haphazardly.

He smashed onto the ground with both hands.

"Ice Make: Frost Wave!"

A series razor-sharp icicles shot up from the grass, emerging up in a 120 degree cone in front of the caster. Seconds later the ice shattered into a multitude of pieces, and melted into water, seeping back into the fertile soil.

Hitsugaya eyed Gray's hands in awe. "It kinda sounds like how we shinigami channel our reiatsu as well…"

"You try it."

"A-Alright."

"Slowly does it, kid."

He glared at Gray, who dismissed the look on his face by returning one of mock regret. He gave up. Raising his hands, he stood in the stance as he would for casting a Kidou spell. Except he wasn't attempting to cast Kidou anymore. It was _magic._

He prioritized his attention towards his reiatsu. He could discern its presence; it was swiveling within his body. Feebly, but it was there. Slowly, he directed the energy. He could feel it coursing through his veins, muscles, everything within him.

He aimed at the forest of brushes. Closing his eyes, he made his release.

"YARRGH!"

He heard a sound of something similar to what Gray did when he slammed his fists together.

He kept his eyes shut. "How did I do?"

Gray walked up towards him. "Not bad. See for yourself."

His eyelids flickered up. He looked fixedly at his open palm.

A single flake of snow was resting on it. The gentle breeze blew it away, letting it float off into the distance. From the distance, Wendy's eyes followed its erratic path of travel of flight, till it disappeared into the lush greenery.

"How was that not bad?" He gritted his teeth.

"For one thing, it shows that the magical flow of the surroundings is reacting to your reiatsu. Which means your spiritual energy IS indeed similar to us wizards in more ways than one. You just need to familiarize yourself with the casting, the magic. Figuring out the specific moves you can master. All these need time." The black haired guy replied patiently.

Hitsugaya stopped seething. He hadn't thought of that. That was actually good news. He could regain his powers! His felt his face getting red in embarrassment.

"Sorry. You're right." He uttered. "My temper got the better of me."

"No problems. I understand you're in a difficult situation now. Let's continue yeah?" Gray answered kindly.

* * *

"You guys doing okay?" Wendy called out.

Hitsugaya and Gray must've been at it for hours. The afternoon sun was not being merciful, glaring its beams on the unsheltered open area. She had, by then, retreated into the shade, propping herself against another tree, her hands absent-mindedly tearing up dried leaves she picked up from the ground.

Beads of perspiration glistened from Gray's bare chest. "One more Hitsugaya. C'mon! Last try! You can do it!"

Hitsugaya himself was panting in exhaustion. He had finally managed to create a shapeless piece of ice the size of himself, but was unable to keep it there. Most of his figures disintegrated without lasting a second.

"Let's go!"

Hitsugaya stood upright. Jaded, he raised him hand for the umpteenth time.

Suddenly, an idea struck him.

He started channeling every single ounce of his remaining energy to his arm.

"_**HIYORINMARU!" **_He howled.

He palm opened up, revealing a white hole. Cylindrical transparent ice ejected from the opening. The ice stacked up, building up to a cuboid the area of the guild building, stretching up to the treetops.

Gray took a few steps back, horrified by the situation before him. "Hitsugaya?! That's enough, you can stop now!"

"GAHHH!"

Hitsugaya couldn't control his palm any more. It was as though his hand had a will of its own.

On the other hand, Wendy had gotten up, and was rushing towards the writhing boy, before being intercepted by Gray. "No Wendy! It's too dangerous!"

"B-But-!"

"I know. But we can't do anything about it. You might get badly hurt." Gray sternly replied, before returning his attention to Hitsugaya.

The block of ice disintegrated. Or parts of it did.

Squinting his eyes against the blazing sunlight, he gasped.

What remained was a gargantuan figure. Its tail was coiled around the main body, from bottom to top, fangs bared in fury, its narrowed eyes glinting with death. Gray and Wendy could only look on, half amazed, half fearful.

_A dragon._

Gray's trance with the iced dragon broke upon hearing coughs. Hitsugaya was swaying from side to side, his legs giving way. Finally, with a thump, he collapsed onto the ground face first. The dragon shattered into pieces.

"HITSUGAYA!"

* * *

**And that concludes number three. Any constructive feedback, comments or criticisms will be greatly appreciated as it will help me improve my writing :)**

**Well, as you can see, things are starting to get more interesting. Hitsugaya has his powers! Kind of. More will be revealed along the way!**

**Looking forward to the next one, and as always, thanks for your time. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.**

**Cya!**


	4. Grounded, Or Not?

**Magic of the Soul**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Fairy Tail.  
**

**AN: Here's Chapter 4! Nothing much for me to say here, other than to enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: Grounded, Or Not?**

* * *

"Oh man..."

And for the third time within twenty four hours, he woke up.

"Argh..."

Hitsugaya sat up and placed a palm against his temple. His head was throbbing wildly, as though his heart had been transplanted within his brain. He felt so lethargic, so tired, just wanting to pass out, back to sleep.

Dazed, he looked around at his surroundings. He was back in the cozy room, with everything still in place, books, huge television, the sofas perhaps shifted around in his absence due to their new disorderly arrangement. And lying on the same bed, blankets, attempting to seduce his current mental state back to dreamland.

He looked to his left, out of the glass windows, which were slightly smudged with fingerprints. The dark ominous sky loomed above him, devoid of stars this time, probably because they were being obstructed by the cosmic size of gray clouds randomly floating about in the stratosphere.

"Damn... It's already night. I've been knocked out for hours again." Hitsugaya muttered to himself.

He supported his upper body against the wall, trying his best to recall what happened to him, with his blurred vision and the pounding pain in his head subsiding slowly over time, allowing him to better concentrate on his musings.

Hiyorinmaru.

Yes... He was trying to summon the spirit of his zanpakuto. To confirm what he saw in his dream actually happened and that it wasn't just a plain nightmare. He didn't think that performing the magic would overstretch his limits to such an extent though. All he remembered seeing was a iced figure of Hiyorinmaru, in dragon form, before he toppled into unconsciousness.

Sighing, he pulled his gaze from the window and glanced to his right, his bettered vision now finally permitting him to notice the presence of the blue haired girl sleeping beside him.

His insides jumped in surprise. "Wendy...?"

The girl didn't stir. She had apparently brought a chair over to the bedside which was closer to the window, and had dozed off. Her head was resting on the cushiony cotton, just inches away from Hitsugaya's hip, her long flowing hair laying around, all messed up, with some stray strands tickling his skin. Her hand was gently holding on to Hitsugaya's free arm, the arm he didn't use to touch his head earlier. As he realized this, he could feel his cheeks getting warm in embarrassment, despite the fact that the room was empty apart from the two of them.

"Carla..."

He didn't recognize that name. Not during the introductions in the guild hall. Gray and Makarov never mentioned that name before either. Maybe it was just another guild member that he hadn't met before?

"Don't go... Carla... Don't..." Her slow breaths exhaled the words out lightly.

Her body seemed to show more signs of life as she started to shift her torso around, adjusting herself into a better position to sleep. Hitsugaya was starting to worry about her, so he poked her on the cheek gingerly.

"Wendy? Hey, wake up."

She roused. Yawning, she stared at Hitsugaya in confusion.

"Hitsugaya-san?"

She looked down, where her hand was still grasping on to Hitsugaya's. Her face rapidly turned beetroot red.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" She was nearly yelping as she lifted her hand with excessive enthusiasm. Hitsugaya had to stifle a laugh, even though his own face was slightly flushed with a tinge of red. "I-I slept without realizing, a-and I-"

He smiled. "It's okay Wendy, you don't have to apologize. Your reaction was pretty funny though. What time is it now?"

"N-Now? Umm... It's 11pm. You were out for 7 hours... I was healing you till I-I fell asleep." She bashfully replied. She was still looking at where her hand had been in slight horror.

Hitsugaya was stung with guilt upon hearing her last sentence. Wendy had been helping him the moment he landed on Earthland. She was the one who found him, and she helped him find the way to the forest. And now she had spent hours tending to him without any rest of her own. No wonder she could fall asleep without being aware of it. She had exhausted herself. He felt indebted to her.

"Hey Wendy... I'm sorry to have you being dragged down into all of this. I've troubled you too much over the past day. I'm really sorry." He mumbled dispiritedly.

She noticed the abrupt change in tone of the white haired teenager. Her features of embarrassment immediately switched to those of concern. "Hitsugaya-san, don't worry about it, okay? We are fellow guild members, and it's normal for us to help each other out. What matters is that you let us help you when you need it, and that your problems are solved! A-And..." Her voice slowly faded off.

"And what?"

"N-N-Nothing!" The redness returned to her face.

Hitsugaya shrugged in bemusement. "In any case, the problem that I'm facing now isn't something that I should just involve Fairy Tail into. I'm not even sure if the problem is actually happening or not, as of now. It's complicated, basically."

"You can still tell us. I'm sure Master will be more than willing to help!" Wendy replied.

Hitsugaya patted her head in reply. "Thanks a lot Wendy. I owe you."

The door banged open, causing the both of them to jolt in alarm. Their eyes met Gray's. He was topless again, and this time he was only wearing sweatpants.

"Yo. Good to see you awake Hitsugaya. I see that both of you are already bonding well." He smirked.

"What d'you mean?" Hitsugaya asked suspiciously, noticing his facial expression.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out, kid. Anyway, Gramps is here to talk to us."

"Where?" Hitsugaya and Wendy asked in unison. They didn't catch sight of the old man walking in with Gray.

The miniscule figure jumped from the bedside opposite of Wendy, and smacked Hitsugaya on the head, before disappearing from view again.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"For being an idiot, that's what. Gray told me everything that happened just now."

Hitsugaya could perceive the anger in his voice. "I'm sorry master. I didn't think of the consequences then." He murmured.

The master hopped up onto the bed, standing near his feet. "What were you _thinking _when you attempted that? You could've died for all you knew!"

"Well... I was trying to infuse my Bankai with the spiritual flow of the atmosphere. So that Hiyorinmaru would be created mainly from the aura of the surroundings instead of using my weakened reiatsu. Since the level of reiatsu that I have now is pretty low."

Makarov was stumped. "What's a Bankai?"

"Right... You guys don't know. My zanpakuto, Hiyorinmaru, exists in three states. The sealed state, Shikai and Bankai. The sealed state is the zanpakuto in normal form, where it acts and works like how any normal sword should. Shikai is also known as the initial release, where it is the proof of the strong sync between the spirit of the zanpakuto and its user. The number of abilities of the user also increase upon activating Shikai."

"And Bankai?" Gray inquired.

"It's also known as the final release, the final upgrade of the zanpakuto. A shinigami has to be able to materialize the spirit into the physical world and subjugate it, which takes a long time to achieve. Very few people in Soul Society possess the capability to take full control of Bankai. Even I... I'm unable to use it at its full power currently." He explained.

"And you still attempted to summon Hiyorinmaru... Knowing well that you didn't have full control. Adding on to the fact that you had lost most of your reiatsu." Makarov sounded grave.

"Master." He responded desperately. "I had no choice. I had to do it."

"And why is that?"

"I had a vision in my dreams last night. Hiyorinmaru spoke to me. He told me that Sousuke Aizen, the one who caused me to end up here, he was going to conquer something in Earthland. But I don't know what he's trying to conquer. And I didn't want to involve you guys and cause any more trouble than I should, so I-"

"So you tried to summon Hyorinmaru to ask him if what he said in your dream was true, am I correct?" The senior cut in.

"Yes... I really apologize." he answered sheepishly.

Makarov sighed. Hitsugaya saw his expression soften. "Hitsugaya, we are Fairy Tail. We don't just leave our members in the lurch. We help them whenever possible." He suddenly sounded like the older version of Wendy. "But if what you said was a dream, we can't be too sure either. I'll inform the Magic Council about this. I have to pay them a visit to settle some matters in the meantime." He was scowling as he finished his sentence.

"Something happened, Master?" Wendy asked timidly.

"Yeah... That blockhead Natsu just demolished another building during his job. Can't he just control himself and defeat those bandits cleanly, instead of taking down the building with them?" He sounded exasperated, but his face was carrying a funny look.

"Well, what d'you expect from a guy like him? I can't wait to see what kinda punishment he's gonna get this time." Gray chuckled, rubbing his hands with that idea in mind.

"The last time Natsu-san destroyed something was when he made somebody's house burn in flames... And in the end Master made him replace that poor guy's house with brick, manually by hand." Wendy whispered into Hitsugaya's ear. This Natsu Dragneel seemed scarier than Hitsugaya originally thought...

"You're another one, Gray! Didn't you break the ten thousand year old Altar of Consectius just three days ago, when you were only supposed to protect the temple against bandits that night?!" Makarov irritably growled.

"But they didn't complain about it, and even thanked me for doing a good job!" The ice mage retorted.

"That was because you scared the shit out of them. They aren't magic users, you very well know that." The balding man grimaced.

Gray rolled his eyes, and made no further comment.

Makarov turned back to Hitsugaya. "Brat, a reminder: If you face any kind of problem, any, no matter how big or small the scale of it is, I urge you not to take the burden alone, and approach any member for help. Understand?"

Hitsugaya slowly nodded in reply.

"Good. Oh yes, one more thing."

"Yes, Master?"

He grunted. "You're grounded."

"WHAT?! What's the meaning of this?!"

"Relax, kid." Only until you fully recover. You're not allowed to attempt any magic or to go outside of the guild building until you're okay again. Maybe within a few days? You don't have a place to stay in yet anyway, so this room will do." He smiled dryly.

"But-"

"No buts. The decision is final. I cannot risk you depleting your spiritual energy anymore than how it already is."

Hitsugaya's face was sullen. "Understood."

"Good boy." The youngster glared at him, but he had already hopped off the bed, and was making his way towards the door.

"Take care, my children."

The door was shut with a soft click.

Gray peered over at the duo. "Well, I think I should go and sleep. Wendy, why don't you accompany him for the night as well? I'm sure you were happy to be with him during the day." He teasingly implored, winking at Wendy.

Hitsugaya could imagine puffs of steam rising from Wendy's forehead, as her face turned crimson with awkwardness yet again. "Gray-san! What are you talking about?! Stop making fun of me! I only fell asleep by accident! And nothing happened just now! You hear me?! Gray-san?!"

But the topless ice wizard had already left the room with a wave, before she managed to finish talking.

"Sorry about that, Hitsugaya-san. He always bullies me about everything." She grumbled. "My clumsiness, my height, a-and..."

"And what?" Hitsugaya asked for the second time.

"N-N-Nothing!"

He quirked an eyebrow. "Did something happen while I was unconscious?"

"It's n-nothing, really!" She stammered.

Hitsugaya gave up. "If you say so..."

She flashed a smile. "You should rest up. You're tired, aren't you?"

"Yeah..." His aching body reminded him of the sheer amount of energy he expended during the day.

She stood up. "Good night, Hitsugaya-san!"

She sauntered out of the room, closing the door behind her.

He thought that she was acting weird all just now. What was she so embarrassed about? He probably wouldn't know though. He rested his head against the velvety pillow, and for the fourth time, drowsed off, cutting himself from reality.

* * *

"Damn it, I'm so bored!" He burst out to nobody in particular.

Hitsugaya was in the guild hall, sitting on a seat at the bar. The guild hall was nearly empty, except for a few stragglers finishing up their lunch, and heading out of the building again.

"Hey Hitsugaya-san!"

Wendy popped out suddenly, causing him to nearly fall over his seat. "Oh no, sorry! I was just wondering if you wanted some company. And I've nothing to do again, as usual. Hahaha..."

"Of course. Thanks again Wendy." His lips twitched into a smile.

She took a seat beside him. "How're you now?"

"Much much better. If only I could go out now and practice more. It's so dull having to stay here and do absolutely nothing..."

"Just a while more and you'll be out practicing in no time, yeah?" She tried to console him.

"I guess so..."

Just then, a slim young woman appeared from the back of the bar, and stood behind the counter. She had long, white hair which curled slightly at the ends, reaching down to her chest. What was most distinctive about her hairstyle was probably the short, upward ponytail obtained by gathering and tying the hair covering her forehead. She had a voluptuous body, with large breasts which seemed to defy gravity, prompting Wendy to gaze at them in awe, and with wistful longing.

She smiled at Wendy, who returned the greeting. Her blue eyes then travelled over to Hitsugaya. "You must be the new member, Toushiro Hitsugaya?"

"Yup. Pleased to meet you. And you are...?"

"Mirajane Strauss. Nice to meet you!" Hitsugaya could feel a sort of motherly aura emitting from her.

"So... I heard from Master that you weren't allowed to go out until you're completely okay again?"

"Yes... I really want to go out though. I want to regain my powers as soon as possible." He frowned.

Mirajane laughed, pouring them a drink each. "Be patient Hitsugaya, we can't have you pushing yourself too much. In the meantime, why don't the two of you go have a look at the job board?"

He was faintly reminded of Makarov and Gray conversing about jobs. And destroying stuff.

"What are jobs exactly?" He sipped his juice.

"These jobs are sent out by people all over Fiore, wizards or non-wizards. We collect their requests and gather them onto the job board. The range of difficulty of requests can stretch to extremes; As easy as tidying a house, or as difficult as saving an entire village. Of course, the rewards vary with the difficulty too. Take a look and you'll see what I mean! Wendy, you should see it too, since you haven't been on an actual job before!" She chirped.

The pair ambled over to the board, which was hanging at the corner of the room. Multiple pieces of paper of all sizes were carelessly pasted on the board, with most of them being handwritten. Some looked as if they were imprinted with magic, judging by the neatness of the words.

Wendy nudged Hitsugaya. "Look at this one! Five million jewels as a reward..."

"How much is five million jewels worth?" He questioned curiously.

"Well... I heard from Gray-san that the cost of an average rental of a house in Magnolia is about seventy thousand jewels per month. So..."

"Five million jewels is a hell lot of money." He whispered in awe.

"Yup! But look at what the request is asking for!"

His attention was brought over to Wendy's finger, pointing at the job scope.

"Finding MEN for a week of non-stop modeling with ALL types of poses and costumes!"

Note: Poses and clothes for MEN with hints of sexual behavior may be considered to be added. MEN are to apply at your own risk! - Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, Blue Pegasus.

Hitsugaya's jaw dropped. "What kind of a job is that...?"

Wendy grinned. "Maybe you should give this one a go Hitsugaya-san!"

"You must be kidding me."

"Hahaha! Yes I am. But really, the types of jobs available reeeally can be unexpected." She was still giggling.

"Alright... Let's keep looking."

They continued scanning the board. Jobs for cleaning, jobs for hunting, jobs for protection, jobs for rescue, jobs for looking after pets...

"Hitsugaya-san... I-I'm feeling sleepy..."

He spun around to see Wendy lying on her back on the polished wood with her mouth slightly open, inhaling and exhaling slowly.

"Wendy?!"

He looked over to the bar. Mirajane's head and chest were resting on the table of the bar, her face covered by her arms, apparently also in deep sleep.

"What's happening?!"

He could feel a heavy aura pressing onto his eyelids, trying to force them shut. Hitsugaya struggled to keep them open, as he witnessed an unknown man enter the fray.

He was wearing a dark blue cloak and his arms and legs were mostly covered in bandages. A dark blue bandana was wrapped around his forehead, coupled with a silver forehead protector, and a green mask that obscured the bottom half of his face. He started walking towards the shaking boy.

"D-Don't come any closer! Don't make me have to hurt you!" Hitsugaya yelled.

The masked figure briefly stopped to analyze him, before resuming his path. Hitsugaya tensed up as he made his approach, but surprisingly he passed the shinigami, only stopping at the job board. Tearing off a piece of paper, he swiftly turned around and strode out of the building.

In that instant, Hitsugaya felt the heavy aura vanish.

"W-What happened?"

Wendy and Mirajane had both awakened as well.

Mirajane sighed. "That must be Mystogan."

"Who's that?" Hitsugaya quizzically inquired.

"He's a very powerful Fairy Tail mage, but little is known about him. He has never shown his face to anybody, and he always performs that sleeping magic on us whenever he enters the hall to take a job request." She returned with her affectionate smile.

"But... I didn't fall asleep. I was close to that point though."

Her eyes widened. "Really?! Wow... The only people who could ever take that spell without dozing off are Master and Gildarts. Both aren't affected at all though."

"Umm... Who's Gildarts?"

"He's out for a few months on a high risk job. You'll see for yourself when he returns." Mirajane chortled.

Wendy, meanwhile, was staring at the door where Mystogan had disappeared off to. "That person is a good man." She whispered.

"How d'you know?" Hitsugaya queried.

She sounded more cheerful. "I'll tell you another time! It's a long story! Anyway, we should keep looking at the jobs!"

"Oh, right..."

The lines of jobs seemed endless. Jobs for cooking, small errands, more modeling, performing, fighting, guarding... Hitsugaya could feel his mind reeling from reading the list.

"Yo."

Gray was standing behind them. Surprisingly, he was wearing a white coat, which reached to his knees.

Hitsugaya nodded in acknowledgement. "Going out?"

"Yeah. For a job." He replied.

"Can we come?"

Gray stared down at him. "Aren't you supposed to be grounded?"

"Yeah. But I can't take this anymore. The boredom is driving me crazy." Hitsugaya complained. "Master won't know anyway, he's out for at least two more days."

The ice wizard took a step back, contemplating the situation. "Hmm. You're not supposed to, and we have to follow what Gramps' instructions..."

Hitsugaya dropped his head, disheartened.

"But Gramps never followed the Magic Council's instructions either. We still destroy stuff even though they warned us a billion times about it. Let's go then." He beamed.

He looked at Wendy. "Wanna come?"

"Of course! I've never been on a job before!" She joyfully replied.

"And you can get to accompany Hitsugaya too. Two birds with one stone, eh?" He sniggered.

"Gray-san!"

Hitsugaya scratched his head. Just what on earth was Gray talking about?

Gray had already walked to the building's entrance. "Mira, we'll be back before Gramps does. Promise! It's an easy job too. We'll be fine."

"Oh alright... But please take good care of the two of them!" She called over.

Gray raised his hand in salute.

With that, the three of them disappeared from view, out into the city.

* * *

**And that's the conclusion of number four. Any constructive feedback, comments or criticisms will be greatly appreciated as it will help me improve my writing :) **

**The next chapter will be about the job that the Hitsugaya, Gray and Wendy will be embarking on! I'm already having a writer's block, but just for the next part! Hopefully it goes away soon! .**

**Looking forward to the next one, and as always, thanks for your time for reading this. I hope you've enjoyed it!**


	5. The Request

**Magic of the Soul**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Fairy Tail.  
**

**AN: Here's Chapter 5! I realized that in the previous chapter, Hitsugaya might seem to be a little OOC in terms of his personality, but as I've mentioned, Wendy reminds him slightly about Hinamori, his childhood friend, so it's not likely that he will be as cold towards her. As for the rest, I'll keep that in mind, so thanks for the feedback. Without further ado, enjoy!**

**Chapter 5: The Request**

* * *

"Gray-san? You haven't told us what this job is about." Wendy piped up.

"Gimme a second. You two can have a look around the area first, but don't roam too far off, alright? I'll be done soon."

The three Fairy Tail members were standing in the midst of the bustling town. Enormous structures towered over them, with most of them being owned by trading organizations, with others mostly being the guild buildings of other guilds situated in Magnolia. Most of them were decorated with brightly colored ornaments, which Hitsugaya guessed could light up through magic when dusk falls upon the area.

A myriad restaurants and eateries could be easily spotted by the avid eye, the aroma of the foods diffusing through the air into their noses. The blue haired girl caught a few whiffs, her face visibly displaying her craving for the food to end up in her stomach.

The bell atop the clock tower which was located in the centre of town chimed four times in succession, signaling that it was four o'clock.

"You hungry?" Hitsugaya asked, noticing the expression on her face.

"A little... I didn't have lunch, so-" Her stomach rumbled loudly, receiving the attention of a few people passing by.

Wendy's hands clutched her tummy. "Maybe more than a little."

"Let's go and see if we can buy some food for you then." He answered.

She looked puzzled. "You didn't eat too, aren't you hungry?"

"Not at all."

"Maybe that's why you're smaller than most guys, Hitsugaya-san." She giggled.

The white haired teen groaned. "Not you too, Wendy…"

"Hahaha! I'm just kidding!"

They wandered up to the bakery just meters away. The transparent windows enabled the duo to eye the insides of the shop covetously. The rows of freshly baked were lined up neatly, similar to how books were arranged on shelves, with buns, croissants, donuts, toast, and any kinds of bread imaginable. The combined fragrance of the loaves was severely testing Wendy's taste buds, as Hitsugaya noticed a drop of saliva escape her mouth.

"Silly… You're drooling." Hitsugaya muttered, reaching out for her lips with his outstretched thumb, and wiped off the stray drop with a light brush across her chin.

Wendy could feel the heat rising into her cheeks as his finger made contact with her. "T-Thanks."

He turned back to looking at the food. "It's nothing. Damn it. I don't have any money with me now, so I can't buy any food for you."

Wendy searched the pockets of her dress. "Me too. I've used up all of what Master gave me when I first joined a while back, and I haven't done any jobs. So I haven't earned any money yet…"

A new voice emerged from behind them. "Wendy! What are you doing here?"

They spun around at the same time. A blonde girl stood before them. She had brown eyes, a large chest, and her shoulder length hair was tied by a blue ribbon in a small ponytail to the right side of her head with the rest of the hair loose.

"Lucy-san! I'm out on my first job with Gray-san and Hitsugaya-san!" Wendy cheerily replied, while gesturing towards the shinigami.

"Is that so? Good on you, Wendy! So you are Hitsugaya, the new member?" She switched her view to him upon mentioning his name.

"Yup. Toushiro Hitsugaya."

"I see! Welcome to the guild! You look pretty young and cu-" She was interrupted by Wendy's frantic motioning. "Huh? Something wrong?"

"I'm not a kid." Hitsugaya sounded annoyed.

"Oh no. Sorry! Forget I mentioned it. Anyway, how are you finding Fairy Tail so far?"

He shrugged. "It's okay I guess. I only became a member two days ago, so there aren't many things which I'm familiar with. But the guild seems really lively. And things aren't going that badly."

"That's good. You can ask me anything you're unsure of if you need to! I'm Lucy Heartfilia, by the way."

Hitsugaya was about to reply, but another rumble cut off his thoughts.

"S-Sorry. My stomach is kinda reaching its limit…" Wendy massaged her belly again.

A hint of amusement showed in Lucy's eyes. "I'll buy some bread. Hold up!"

She darted into the bakery, emerging just moments later. "The owner and I happened to be good friends, so I managed to get some for free. They make the best bread in the region! Here! Take it!" She thrust the paper bags into their hands.

Wendy munched onto the donut ravenously, her eyes lighting up in delight as her stomach was filled up. "Hitsugaya-san, you should try it! It's amazing!"

Reluctantly, he brought up the croissant to his mouth. He sank his teeth into the soft texture. The sweet chocolatey flavor exploded across his tongue, and the creamy toppings rapidly spread throughout his mouth, with some flaky crust dropping off his lips. He swallowed.

"It's delicious." He admitted.

"Told you so!" She proudly exclaimed.

"Oi, where's my share, Lucy?"

She shuddered. "Gosh Gray, don't scare me like that! None for you!"

The ice mage was apparently finished with his business, and had appeared behind the blondie silently.

"C'mon guys, let's go. I've found some transport so that we won't end up being late. And tiring ourselves out for that matter." He directed the words towards the two younger teenagers, completely disregarding Lucy's previous sentence.

"HEY! Don't just ignore me like that!"

Gray had already walked off in the opposite direction, back towards the area where Hitsugaya and Wendy first strolled off from.

"That dumbass." Lucy grumbled. "Anyway guys, you should get going too. Stay safe, alright? If Gray bullies you in some way or another, just tell me. I'll make sure to give him an earful!"

At that point, Wendy had her mouth half opened, ready to spew out all the moments Gray had poked fun at her.

Hitsugaya, prematurely sensing a long girls' talk incoming, quickly cut in. "Wendy, we should go. We're gonna be late."

"I-I'll tell you another time, Lucy-san! See you!" She squealed as she was being dragged away by the white haired youngster.

What awaited them back there was a four wheeled carriage, painted a sleek black, easily boasting its polished metallic surface under the sunlight. However, there were neither any horses to pull it, nor pedals to ride it manually. Just a driver's seat.

"This." Gray announced, jabbing a finger at the vehicle. "Is a magical carriage. Available in the form of cars and motorbikes as well. What you see here is an older version, which unfortunately, was the only vehicle left for rental. But it'll do."

Wendy looked mystified. "How do you get it to work then?"

"Hop on, I'll show you."

They complied, scrambling to the back seat, which fitted nicely for two passengers.

Gray himself mounted the steps to the driver's seat. Swearing under his breath, he slowly untangled an elongated wire hanging loosely from the hood, which was bounded so tightly that he had to use his teeth to loosen it. After what seemed like an eternity, he held up the wire, which had something similar to a wristband attached at the end.

"This is what you call a Self-Energy plug, or SE-plug for short."

He inserted his hand through the loop. "Once you do this, you can channel your magic towards the loop, which will convert the magic into fuel. The faster you want it to travel, the more magic you pump in. Simple."

And the carriage zoomed forward without warning, causing Hitsugaya and Wendy to jerk back into the leather.

Wendy shrieked, shielding her view with her fingers, gripping on anything she could for dear life. Hitsugaya was starting to feel sick. It weaved through the crowd swiftly, avoiding any people who didn't have enough time to react. The other quicker ones panicked and raced out of harm's way.

"GRAAAAY!" Hitsugaya bellowed. "TOO FAST!"

The automobile skidded on a sharp turn at the edge of town. Since seatbelts were not provided, their light bodies were nearly thrown out, and they barely held on by latching on to the metal bars fitted on the sides. As they left the hubbub of activity in town and things became more still, Gray finally decelerated.

He glanced back, where the duo were still recovering from the ordeal. "Sorry about that. It would've taken us forever to get out of that place if we waited for the stupid traffic. You guys still alive?"

"We could've died!"

He looked offended. "What, you don't trust my driving skills? I'm actually relatively proficient in it, you know."

"How the hell am I supposed to trust your driving skills when I've never seen you drive before?!" Hitsugaya demanded.

"That's why I'm telling you now! Wendy has seen it before. I'm a good driver, right Wendy?"

Wendy's face was still ghostly white, as she slowly shook her head.

Gray huffed. "Fine. Anyway, here. The job request. There isn't much written here though. We'll get more information from the person who sent this out later."

He raised up the sheet of paper and released it, letting the flow of the wind direct it towards the shinigami's hand, who caught it easily. Straightening out the creases of the paper, he cleared his throat so that he could read its contents to Wendy. The words were written messily, with scrawny handwriting. Hitsugaya squinted to make out the letters.

"The village of Farnak requires help from capable mages to protect our medicinal facility against intruders for a night, between the timings of 11pm till 7am. More details to be given out by our village head, Destin."

"Reward: 100,000 jewels." He read aloud.

"Whoever they are, they seem pretty desperate for help. A typical overnight job like this usually warrants only half the jewels that are stated in this one. That's why I picked it." Gray shouted back. "And you guys should get some sleep too, if you can. We're gonna be travelling for another few hours at least, and we don't want anyone sleeping on the job tonight, do we?"

"Just focus on facing the front so we'll still be alive if we ever make it there!"

Gray glowered at Hitsugaya, and whipped his head back forward, facing the barren road once again.

Wendy, meanwhile, was elated. "I'm so excited! Our first job! I hope we'll do okay!"

Hitsugaya simply nodded, staring out into space. "Mm..."

She looked at him concernedly. "Hitsugaya-san? Is something wrong?"

He made no response, but continued his gaze with the clear sky.

She bent towards him and flicked his earlobes, which broke him out of his reverie.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"Is something wrong?" She repeated, attempting to suppress a laugh with his reaction.

He rubbed his ear gingerly. "It's nothing much. Just thinking about the same old stuff."

"Let's talk about something else to distract you from that then!"

"Sure."

"Anything you wanna ask me?" She questioned breezily.

Hitsugaya's face scrunched with concentration, trying to generate a question in his mind to ask. Seeing his expression prompted Wendy to hide another giggle.

Finally, his eyes lit up slightly, and asked the most obvious question, which could've taken mere seconds to think of. "What kind of magic d'you use?"

"My magic is of the wind element. I can cast spells which heals people, or buffs their physical capabilities like speed, defense and damage output. Oh! I'm what someone would call a Dragon Slayer."

Hitsugaya was caught off-guard by the last two words. "Why're you called that?"

She smiled sadly. "That's because I was raised by a dragon, Grandeeney. She taught me magic, and raised me up since young, except for the fact that she disappeared seven years ago. Even Natsu-san's dragon disappeared, on the same day mine did. I've come to accept it slowly over the years, but he hasn't, and he spends most of his free time travelling all over Fiore, trying to get information about it, but without much luck. Mysterious, isn't it?"

He leaned back against his seat, trying to digest what Wendy had said. "I see… Oh, one more question."

She cocked her head on one side, a curious look on her face. "Yes?"

"I heard you talking in your sleep the other day, about someone named Carla. Is she a guild member? I never noticed that person on my first day when everyone was in the guild hall."

At that point, Wendy froze. Her mouth was half opened, struggling to pronounce words. "C-C-Carla?"

He frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Her face had totally changed by then. It was contorted to one of huge sorrow. "I should've never done that to her." She whispered, her voice quivering.

"Do what? Wendy? Hey…"

At that point, she could no longer hold back her tears, which spilt over and flowed down her cheeks, like a river escaping a dam. She swiped at her face in a futile attempt to clear the running droplets. Hitsugaya instantly regretted his actions, sighing at his stupidity. A sickening feeling of self-blame was shooting through his gut.

"It's okay Wendy. You don't have to answer. I'm sorry for asking." He said softly towards the girl, who was still weeping silently.

All this while, Gray was still focused on the path ahead, totally oblivious to the situation occurring less than two metres away from him.

Hitsugaya was at a loss, and could only watch her helplessly. He had never made a girl cry before, in his whole hundred years alive as a shinigami. He had pissed Hinamori off badly a few times when they were younger, but this was a different case. He had probably reminded Wendy of a painful memory, one she'd prefer not to talk about. That would probably explain why she was dreaming of Carla the other day, whoever that person was.

"I-It's okay. It's not your fault, Hitsugaya-san." She hiccuped, drying her tears with better success this time.

"Try getting some rest, alright? It's gonna be a long night." The white haired teen feebly replied.

Wendy returned with a tiny nod, and shut her eyes tightly.

Hitsugaya returned his attention to the heavens, watching the sun steadily dip beyond the hills in the distance, exhaling slowly as he did so.

"I'm such a moron." He spoke in an undertone.

* * *

In a dreary hut of the village of Farnak, the village head, Destin, was seated inside, his fingers idly fiddling around with a straw of hay which had dropped from the roof. The room's air was stagnated with a weird stench, but he seemed unfazed by that. He thoughtfully faced his companion instead, a youngish girl who stood in front of him, waiting quietly.

He spoke up. "How are things going?"

"Very well. Some mages from Fairy Tail are coming to cover up for the guarding tonight, since the rest are being called back for other matters." She replied.

"Will they pose as a problem to us?"

"Most likely not. They are the goody-two-shoes type, so the chances of them interfering are extremely slim."

"And what of the facility?"

"Also no problems thus far. But I'll have to be stationed there tonight, since we don't have enough people. Just one more night of production, and we'll have enough."

The man smiled, revealing a set of yellowed teeth. "Good. Speak of the devil. I think I can hear them coming. Off you go now."

The girl strode past him to open the back door, and whisked herself off into the night.

There was a knock on the front door a few seconds later.

"Come in."

It creaked open, and the three Fairy Tail members entered, Destin himself stood up to welcome them, and hobbled forward with his walking stick. Hitsugaya could see his moonlit face heavily covered with wrinkles, and his shoulders were slouching forward due to his old age.

"Thank you all for coming to help. My name is Destin Anders, and I'm the village head of Farnak." He wheezed.

"The pleasure is ours. I'm Gray, and these two are Wendy and Hitsugaya." The ice mage pointed towards the two respectively.

Destin stiffened. "Have we met before?"

Gray raised an eyebrow, baffled. "Erm… No sir. I've never seen you before."

The old man recovered quickly. "Interesting… Well, that isn't the main point. Let me brief you guys on your job."

The trio nodded simultaneously.

"This village, Farnak, is very well known for the production of medicines. We make them, and bring them over to Magnolia to sell. We even have a facility purely devoted to manufacturing them. The problem is that most villagers are poor, despite our efforts to help them get by, so it's difficult to sell them internally. Also, because of that, a number of them try to sneak into the facility to steal our medicines for their own interests, not to mention the occasional bandits and thieves, which are harder to deal with. What's worse is that the number of attempted break-ins have been increasing over time. This is why we need help from you guys to prevent any such thing from happening."

"But why only ask for help now?" Hitsugaya bluntly cut in.

Destin showed his yellowed teeth with a lopsided grin. "We usually manage on our own. But unluckily for us, we're down on manpower just for tonight. The bodyguards have other matters to attend to, which is why we desperately require your assistance. We've lost too much medicine over the years to afford to lose more."

Meanwhile, Wendy was staring at him, a slight frown etched on her face since she first stepped into the hut.

"And of course… I'll present your reward to you in the morning when your shift is over." He added.

"Sounds good. Where is the medicinal facility? We didn't see it on our way in." Gray said.

Destin shot him another look, full of intrigue. "Ah. That's because the facility is further behind this town, about a ten minute walk through the forest. I can lend you some torchlights if you need them."

"That will be greatly appreciated, thanks." He replied politely.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. All you need to do is to patrol the outsides of the facility, and ensure that nobody tries to climb up the fences, or enter the compound. The fence is the most common method though." The old man rasped.

"Understood. We won't disappoint you." Gray promised.

"Good. All the best, Fairy Tail."

* * *

"Yo. Did something happen? Why're you two so quiet?"

Wendy showed no sign of answering, and continued to face the grassy ground glumly.

"It's nothing." Hitsugaya snapped back. "We're here."

The facility wasn't actually as big as he would've expected; it was comparable to the size of two guild buildings. It wasn't tall, only reaching to a height of approximately two floors. Cracks on the walls were evident, with mould manifesting all over. The white paint looked to be fading, slowly peeling off the body of the structure. It was enclosed within a circular metal fence, with barbed wires tracing the contours of its jagged top.

Gray sounded worried. "The circumference is too big for just one party to cover. I suggest splitting up. I'll take the left side, and you two take the right. Wendy, you're okay with fighting in case anything happens, right?"

"Yup." She answered.

"If you need any help, send a signal, maybe something in the sky. I'll come running to help. And Hitsugaya, don't do anything stupid, alright?"

He scowled. "I know."

"I doubt anything much will happen; it'll be a boring night, most likely. Well, see you guys in the morning."

He proceeded to the left. Hitsugaya and Wendy turned right, and started walking.

The whole place was hushed, except for the rustling of leaves which dragged across the soil against the soft breeze, and the crunching sound they emitted as the two of them trudged on the path.

"Wendy, are you alright? You don't seem too well."

She glanced over at him, before resuming her studying of the ground, as if she was counting the number of leaves there were laying about. "Y-Yes. I'm fine."

"That so…" He murmured.

They continued in silence for a good ten minutes. Hitsugaya had no idea how to revert things back to normal. He wasn't good with girls. Generally.

"Carla is a cat. She was my best companion." Wendy suddenly said.

"I see… Are you okay with talking about this? You don't have to force youself."

Wendy shook her head. "I… I had a huge quarrel with her. We fight over small things before that incident occasionally, but never to such an extent. It was about a month before I joined Fairy Tail."

"That's not very long ago."

"Yup. I was foolish. She usually storms off when we argue, but we make up by the next day. But for that quarrel, she never came back. I don't know why she did that. I wanted to find her, to apologize, but… but… but…" Her voice drifted off with the wind.

"I'm sorry." Hitsugaya quietly replied.

She shook her head again. "It's okay. I just need time to-"

She stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening.

Hitsugaya halted as well, looking nonplussed. "What's wrong?"

"We're not alone. Someone's nearby."

Just then, a yell came above them. The duo looked up to see a flash of silver, and dodged out of the way in the nick of time, as the sword landed on the ground, where Hitsugaya was standing just a moment ago.

The figure straightened himself up, pulling the blade from the ground which he stabbed into with a single hand. He was wearing clothes similar to Mystogan's, but they were all black in color and instead of bandages, he was wearing cloth.

"_**The Finality of Darkness, Yamishado."**_

The blade dissolved into nothingness. Dark matter took its place, the new blade itself growing longer and thinner. As the sword shifted through air, shadowy remains could be seen floating where the sword last was, before vaporizing into the atmosphere.

Hitsugaya took a step back in shock. "No way. Th-That's a Shikai."

Upon realizing the impact of his words, Wendy's face whitened for the second time that day. "You don't mean…"

He set a steely gaze on the unknown stature. "A shinigami."

* * *

**And that's the conclusion of number five. Any constructive feedback, comments or criticisms will be greatly appreciated as it will help me improve my writing :) **

**If you guys have any queries about stuff you don't understand in this and future chapters, do drop a review or PM, and I'll gladly clarify them for you!**

**And that's it. As always, thanks for your time. I hope you've enjoyed it :)**

**Till next week!**


	6. Complications

**Magic of the Soul**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Fairy Tail**

**AN: Hey guys, here's Chapter 6! To be honest, I'm really doubtful about how this story is going, because I haven't been receiving many comments or reviews about this story, and I've no idea how good the plot-line is going so far. You can just say that I'm not feeling very confident about my writing, and of this story right now. Of course, I'll definitely be continuing for future chapters regardless, because I love this, writing and everything. But please do leave reviews about any flaws this story may have, or if it's going okay, because I want to create this story not just for self-fulfillment, but to appeal to the readers, who are you guys. And without them, I wouldn't know if I'm on the right track. Even PMs are fine! :)**

**I apologize for the long-winded AN, but that was running on my mind constantly as I wrote Chapter 6. So without further ado, enjoy!**

**Chapter 6: Complications**

* * *

The shinigami's face was covered with cloth except for his eyes, but when they got to see him clearly, what greeted them was a pair of bloodshot eyes, with even the pupils being dyed red. The whites were so badly sore that the entire eyeball was crimson, as if blood had rushed to fill them up. He merely stayed stationary at his position, as if inviting them to perform the first move.

"Hitsugaya-san, can you fight?" Wendy asked urgently.

The figure suddenly hurled the sword towards Hitsugaya. He barely managed to tumble to the side, but the edge of the sword had lightly cut through the cloth over his arm, leaving behind a nasty gash. Dark fumes spread from the cut, which burnt through the skin around the immediate area of the slit, leaving a wound the size of his fist.

"I think so." He yelled back, partly because of the pain. "Probably a few basic spells, but I doubt I'll be able to do much."

He quickly directed his palm to the sky and shot a stream of clear ice, but they fragmented before getting the chance to soar high above for Gray to notice.

The shinigami raised his own hand, and for a split second Hitsugaya thought he was about to cast a kidou spell, until he heard Wendy shout unintelligibly at him since her voice wasn't loud enough. She gestured to his back wildly, so he turned around. The sword, which was embedded in the soil, shook violently and broke free from the dirt, before hurtling back towards the user, signaling him to lunge away from its path of flight once again.

Wendy shot him a worried look. "Maybe you should go and find Gray instead. My wind magic isn't going to be visible for him to spot, so sending a signal is going to be difficult. I should be able to hold him off till you return!"

"But-"

The person swung his sword into the air blindly and conjured seven vertical black lasers, each of them reaching twice his own height. They were compacted at the tip of the sword, then started to travel forward, spreading outwards in a cone, which left behind the charred remains of the ground that the lasers had blazed through. Funnily, both Hitsugaya and Wendy were small enough to let two lasers open up past them without needing to move. The lasers fortunately died off before reaching the fence that enclosed the facility. But one thing's for sure: He's out for their blood.

"Hitsugaya-san, please, just go! I'll be okay, trust me! We don't have time to waste!"

His moment of hesitation to abandon Wendy gave the hostile sufficient time to teleport towards him, and he was tackled to the ground.

_Shunpo. _A movement technique which allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow. Hitsugaya himself had never really bothered attempting to use it ever since he was trapped in Earthland since there wasn't really a need to, and he had largely forgotten about it. Till a few seconds ago.

Hitsugaya struggled, but it was useless. He did not possess enough physical strength to brute it out with another who was at least twice as large and heavy. Adding on to the fact that he was being pinned down, the shinigami's legs locking down his own. He indistinctly saw the red eyes deepen its shade of color, as its owner raised his zanpakuto with both hands above the teen's chest, poised to plunge.

"SKY DRAGON'S ROAR!"

A huge gust of wind blasted above Hitsugaya, sending his assailant flying and knocking against a tree headfirst. He then slinked to the ground, half-conscious.

"Are you okay?"

He sat up. Wendy had rushed over to him, and her hands were glowing as she healed the injury that the shinigami inflicted when he threw his sword. As he watched the burnt area, the blackened skin slowly lightened its tone, reverting back to its healthy pinkish color.

He caressed his newly grown skin. "Thanks."

"Find Gray-san, alright? It'll be easier if it's three-on-one. I can handle him till then."

She sounded solemn, yet Hitsugaya could detect the hint of plea in her voice. He rose to his feet. "I'll be back as soon as possible."

The shinigami was starting to stir, so Wendy summoned a bluish magical aura at Hitsugaya's feet, at the same time reciting, "Ile Vernier!"

As he dashed off, he could feel the usual weight pressing on his feet being relieved, and that he was moving four times his normal speed. He sped through the curved path, back to the place where the three split up into the two parties, and continued running to where Gray had headed to just minutes ago. It wasn't long before he spotted the ice mage, hands in pockets, strolling on the walkway. And of course, being topless. Though that was the least of Hitsugaya's worries as he caught up, puffing for air.

His eyes narrowed. "Where's Wendy?"

"Fighting... Shinigami..." Hitsugaya burst out in short breaths.

"C'mon. We gotta help her."

He sighed. Whatever Wendy had casted upon him had faded away by then, so he was going to have to expend most of his energy running. He wouldn't be in any proper state to fight by the time he made it back to her. If he could even make it back without collapsing from a heart attack that is. Still, he braced himself and trailed behind Gray, trying to keep up.

Within minutes, he could tell that they were approaching the battle as cries and yelps came within earshot. As they came into view, Hitsugaya saw Wendy leaning against the fence looking worn out, her dress being burnt in multiple places that revealed her babyish skin, which thankfully wasn't burnt like the injury he had received before.

On the other hand, the shinigami was still robust, apparently able to shake off the direct hit from Wendy earlier, and having the upper hand one to one. Apart from his bandana missing from his head, showing his disarrayed hair, he hasn't been damaged since. As he saw the two newcomers running up, Hitsugaya witnessed fleetingly, a shadow of doubt enter those devilish eyes.

With a dim flash, he used shunpo to escape from the fight.

The two guys hurried over to Wendy, where she had regained a little bit of energy to walk. She glanced over to the white haired adolescent with a small smile. "See. I told you I could handle him."

He nodded curtly. "I shouldn't have wasted time doubting you. Sorry. You okay?"

She returned the gesture, somewhat blurrily.

Gray folded his arms. "I wonder. Just how did that guy manage to come here, of all places? It's way too coincidental. And we don't get people from other worlds popping around here every other day."

"It's Aizen." Hitsugaya clenched his fists while mentioning his name. "It's definitely him. He's probably now able to send people to Earthland from Soul Society whenever he wants to."

"But what for?"

"To get something from this world." Hitsugaya said morosely. "I didn't get to hear from Hyorinmaru what it was."

Gray patted his head, earning a glare. "But that doesn't really explain why that shinigami was here. You think he was trying to break into the facility?"

Hitsugaya shrugged. "Maybe."

Carefully, Wendy stood up. "We should continue with the patrol. He might still be around. Plus we need to lookout for other intruders."

"Yeah. But let's stick together this time." Gray agreed.

However, they didn't need that as the night passed by uneventfully, apart from a few non-magic users who were lurking around different areas suspiciously from time to time, and subsequently were being chased away by Gray during most of the instances.

"Those idiots. Why were they staring at me like I'm an alien or something?"

"That's because you're topless, you moron… What happened to your coat?"

Gray looked around. "Oh."

"He just realized…" Wendy laughed.

And with that, Hitsugaya caught sight of the first rays of light rising above the hills, indicating the end of the job.

* * *

"Well done, mages. You've really saved us this time. We couldn't have survived the night without any break-ins if it wasn't for your help."

The three Fairy Tail members and the village head were gathered in the hut once again. Destin limped forward, leaning against his walking stick. He held out a bag of jewels. "Here. As promised. 100,000 jewels."

Gray's and Wendy's eyes shone, although Hitsugaya observed the slight uncertainty on her face, as she did the night before when they first met the old man. Gray stepped up and gently took the money bag from him. "Thank you, sir. Maybe you can call us up for future jobs again if you're down on people. If you can put a good reward to offer again." He joked.

Destin chuckled. "Well, it probably won't happen again. But we'll see. I'll see you guys off."

Gray waved a hand dismissively. "It's alright. We'll manage. Thanks again!"

The elder bowed in reply. Hitsugaya could hear a crack. That didn't sound good for his back.

As they left the village, Wendy whispered over to them, "The villagers don't seem too happy about us helping Destin-san."

She was right. As they were walking towards the outskirts, eyes from the residents were trained on them, throwing dirty looks. Despite that, they didn't dare to draw nearer to the trio, since they couldn't use magic.

"What's up with them?" Hitsugaya growled.

"No idea. But let's get out of here, fast. The mood here is too… Too…" Gray paused, trying to think of a good word for the description.

"Hateful?" Wendy offered.

"Something like that. Doesn't seem like they're too fond of the village head, and us too now that we've helped him. But they're too afraid to do anything about it either, so we should be fine."

They clambered up the magical vehicle that Gray had parked outside the village. "Let's make a stop in town first. Gotta return the vehicle anyway."

With a screech, the carriage moved off, back to the urbanized region.

Hitsugaya rested against the leather seat, feeling drained. Whatever he did during the fight with the shinigami was virtually useless, but he felt so tired. Maybe it wasn't that good of an idea to come on this job after all. It would've benefited him and the party more if he was stronger, and could contribute more to the fight. If he had the reiatsu he usually contained in his spiritual body, he would've been able to clash with the enemy with little problems. If his zanpakuto was with him. If he wasn't so weak now.

_If…_

"Hitsugaya-san?"

Wendy was looking at him, but this time thoughtfully.

"What's up, Wendy?"

"How're you feeling now? I think you might've overexerted yourself quite a bit from just now." She sounded slightly perturbed.

"I'm alright, but I'll probably need to rest later on back at the guild. By the way, your hearing's really sharp. I couldn't even hear anything when you noticed his presence."

"You could say so…" She replied neutrally. "But that's because I'm a Dragon Slayer, so naturally our senses are enhanced."

"I see…"

Wendy turned back to face the front, the expression on her face unchanging.

"Hey, is something up? You've been frowning since yesterday. Is it because of what we talked about?"

She shook her head. "Something felt off about that village head just now." She admitted. "I've realized it the moment we met him, and I should have told you two earlier…"

"Well, Master doesn't look like he's in his right mind either, so it's probably pretty normal for old people."

She laughed. "Silly, it's not that. Something really weird."

Hitsugaya tilted his head to the side. "What is it then?"

"Well… He had the scent of a woman."

* * *

They were back in the busy town of Magnolia. Perspiration dripped from the brows of the Fairy Tail members as they stood outside the rental shop where Gray had taken the magical carriage from. They had been there for a while now, since Gray was fighting with the shop owner about the rental price.

"What overnight charges are you talking about?! You had never charged that to anybody, ever!"

"You dimwit! That's because nobody has ever rented a vehicle from me overnight before!" The shopkeeper roared back. He had a sturdy build, at least a head taller than Gray. But that didn't throw him off. Instead, he stood his ground and continued the argument hotly.

Hitsugaya said in a low voice, "Shouldn't we stop them before things go out of hand?"

"Hahaha, nope. Master would murder Gray if he really fought with any civilians outside. And besides, he isn't one to do that. He always bargains with the owner like this. But he usually loses in the end."

"So how long is he gonna take?"

Wendy looked amused and annoyed at the same time. "About an hour."

"He really is an idiot, isn't he…"

She chortled. "That's mean, Hitsugaya-san."

"Well… Whatever." He grumpily replied. Want to have a walk around while waiting?"

Her face brightened up. "Sure! Should we tell Gray-san first?"

He looked over, where Gray was now stripping off his jeans, attracting looks of horror from the shop owner as well as the public. "I don't recognize that guy… Let's go." And they left the ice mage behind, now only in his boxers, his hollers dwindling in volume as they drew further.

There wasn't actually anything much else to see apart from more food shops and other recreational services, but it was certainly better than being caught under a childish squabble.

Wendy nudged Hitsugaya. "Look. A medicinal shop. Maybe one which Destin-san sells his products over to. Maybe we can get some information about them."

They entered the musty, dingy store. The signboard against the wall was slanted, hanging on a single chain, with the other having been dislodged. The shop was small, but a dusty "Open" sign was placed on the counter. Glass jars and containers were resting around the room, but most of them were empty. As they proceeded towards it, they found an emaciated old woman, her arms resting against the rough wooden top. There was an air of melancholy flying around her.

"How may I help you children?" She asked weakly.

Hitsugaya winced. "I'm not a child. May we ask, do you get your medicines from Farnak?"

She was taken aback. "Yes, of course. The poorer shops have to, since they're the cheapest available around the region for purchase. The richer ones… Well, they have their sources."

"Seems like business has been doing well for you, I suppose? You're almost out of stock."

The wrinkles on her forehead creased. "No. As a matter of fact, we haven't been receiving any medicines from them for a week now."

They were stunned. "W-What happened?" Wendy queried nervously.

"I don't know. They said something about having problems with their facility, so they won't be able to produce for a while." She glanced at the calendar hanging behind her. "At least they said they'll be resuming production today. So we should be getting the medicines back in a few days. But for now I'll just have to make do with what I have left."

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed. Destin only confided to them about the problem with the intruders, but not about any production problems. Why would he not ask for help about that then? Something was obviously amiss. He turned to Wendy for confirmation, to receive the same expression reflected off his face.

"We've got to go back to get to the bottom of this, Hitsugaya-san. There are too many things not adding up." She said darkly.

"Thank you for the information." He nodded towards the woman in acknowledgement. She merely returned with a light smile.

With all possible haste, they sprinted back to where Gray was.

* * *

"I really apologize, Captain Aizen. I have failed the mission, and I take full responsibility for it."

The shinigami was in Kurotsuchi's laboratory, where human-sized cylinders and tubes were aplenty. Soft hissing could be heard from the conical flasks, where liquids were mixed about, creating unusual concoctions. At the centre of the room stood a high-chair, where the mildly-featured man rested upon. Ichimaru Gin stood beside him, lazily focusing his attention on a Spherili, which looked different from the one he used on Hitsugaya, since this one was smaller, and had a new design.

"Why so harsh on yourself, Itami? Technically, it wasn't fully your fault. I myself was surprised at the fact that travelling through the Void to transport you from here to Earthland would result in a time lapse of twenty four hours."

He was bewildered. "What d'you mean?"

"Say you left this world, and entered the Void today. When you reach Earthland, a day would have passed in our perspective. But for you, when you arrive there, forty eight hours would have elapsed from the time of departure. That was why you arrived there late to receive any intelligence about the facility." His voice was soft, yet dangerously calm.

Itami looked visibly relieved. "I really did try my best, captain."

"I know you did." Aizen's clasped his fingers, interlocking them. "But that was no reason why you lost to Toushiro Hitsugaya. His power level was at a near zero, and you still weren't able to kill him."

"But he got help. He had two wizards to back him up." He protested.

"You were just gutless, Itami. You were overpowering the girl easily, weren't you? You would've wiped the floor with them had you stayed. Not having a Bankai didn't necessarily mean that you won't be able to fight them. You underestimate yourself. That, regrettably, was a huge failure on your part."

Itami shivered. Aizen had an aura of menace surrounding him; He could feel it, and it was chilling him to the bone. But from the outside, all he could see was a bespectacled man, directing a humorless smile down towards him.

"I-I'm really sorry. It won't happen again. I promise to reach your expectations the next time."

"Well, that is of no matter now. You used to be the only one other than Hitsugaya who could be sent through the Void to make it to the other side alive. Not anymore. In fact, everyone now can. During your absence, we devised a contraption to allow anyone, regardless of the level of reiatsu, to be able to breathe normally within the Void. Or rather, our new ally Kurotsuchi did."

Itami stiffened in fear. "Does that mean you have no use for me anymore?"

Ichimaru Gin laughed mirthlessly. "No no no… Of course not! How could you say such a thing? All of you, all the shinigamis on our side, will indeed have a use in one way or another."

Aizen stepped off the chair, landing gently on the tiled floor. "You must be tired, Itami. Come, have a drink."

He gestured towards the nearby coffee table, where Itami shuffled to, unsure of whether the danger had been abated. There were two tiny glasses, one filled with red, and the other with blue.

"Take your pick. You've earned it."

Dubiously, he picked up the glass of bluish liquid, since red reminded him too heavily about blood, and death. He took a whiff of the contents. Blueberry.

Ichimaru grinned. "Looks like you have good taste. Go on, enjoy."

He downed the contents with a single gulp. The taste of the fruit lingered on his tongue, its sweetness making his mouth dry in a matter of seconds. He licked his lips. "Thanks for the drink. It's really sweet though, maybe you could try to-"

Pain. Sharp, splitting pain. All over his body. His eyes, ears, legs, skin, practically everything. That was the only thing he could feel. His nerves blocked out everything else, except Aizen's resounding voice. He knelt beside the spluttering shinigami. "Try to what? Was the flavor not up to your satisfaction?"

"Wh-Wh-Why…"

"Well… I did say that you've earned it." Aizen's smile was unwavering.

Itami twitched for the final time, and lay still.

Ichimaru walked up as well. "Man, Captain. That poison was the deadliest Kurotsuchi had ever made. You sure are a sadist…"

"Think of it how you want. Drinking the red liquid would've caused his organs to implode. And we would've had a large mess to clean up later on. His soul would've been more difficult to capture too, had he chose that drink. His choice of death was the better one, if I had to say. And besides… I needed a soul desperately. The one used to revive Kurotsuchi took us hours of careful planning to obtain. We still have to be under the radar, you very well know that."

The lanky man nodded. "That you're right. But we don't have anyone to use Itami's soul on yet."

Aizen eyes sparkled. "Oh yes we do. I forgot to mention. We already have someone who needs resurrection as well, but we had no soul. I personally had to dirty my hands for this one, regrettably. But better to get the harder ones out of the way first."

"So who was it?" Ichimaru curiously asked.

"Byakuya Kuchiki."

* * *

**That's the conclusion of number six. Do leave a review/PM to let me know if it's going okay! I really appreciate it.  
**

**And that's it. As always, thanks for your time. Till next week! :)**


	7. Revealed

**Magic of the Soul**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Fairy Tail.  
**

**AN: Apologies for not updating last week, since I was caught up with stuff. Anyways, I'm not really sure if I should continue with this story anymore. I'm not really sure about it. I'm probably just confused now. Haha. Not the point here. Without further ado, enjoy.**

**Chapter 7: Revealed**

* * *

"Hey Tousen, you sure we're in the right place? This place is huge. She could be anywhere."

The two captains were in the forested region just outside of the urban area, where inhabitants of Seireitei rarely frequented unless they desired a quiet walk. It was so huge however, cases of people never returning from the wilderness after entering it popped out occasionally, usually because they lose their way and inevitably die of starvation.

"Of course she's here," The dark skinned man snapped. His brown hair was braided back due to its length, and was wearing clear goggles since he was blind from birth. "I've been tailing her for a week now. She has been coming here to train alone regularly. And we aren't even there yet. You're just impatient. Besides, you didn't need to come. I could've handled this on my own."

Ichimaru Gin showed his trademark grin. "Yes yes, of course! Relax. I'm not doubting your skills or anything. It's just that I needed some action. And fresh air. Being stuck with Aizen for days isn't the most fun thing to do y'know. Especially since Kurotsuchi's revival. He's been staying at the lab all day every day since then. Trying to make all kinds of weird stuff."

"We aren't doing this for fun, you know. It's all for justice. For a better world. Or worlds, as Aizen would say."

Gin waved his hands airily around. "You're being too serious, Tousen. Loosen up! Take a break sometime! Everything is already going according to plan."

"The faster we reach our goal, the better, right?"

He shrugged. "Right. I've always wanted to ask you something though. I'm still surprised at the fact that you decided to defect to our side on your free will. Didn't you mention before that you hated bloodshed? Why come over to our side then? Aizen did tell you that you would have to kill people, and many will die in the process. Doesn't that go against your philosophy?"

The expression on Tousen's face remained unchanged, although it was impossible to see any change his eyes had because of the goggles. "Like I said, it's for justice. Aizen's ideals are for the greater good. Sacrifices have to be made to achieve it. I don't mind."

"How objective, huh."

"Whatever."

They walked past a decaying skeleton resting against the bark of a tree, it's rotting flesh still hanging limply in place. Gin wrinkled his nose at the stench. "Damn. That guy has gotta be there for months now. Wonder why the guards on duty haven't cleared him out yet."

"Just be a man and bear with the smell."

"Man, you're such a damper. Lighten up, would you?"

"Anyway Gin, is Aizen going to target the vice-captains as well?"

His eyebrows shot up at the sudden question. "Nope. He ain't. He's gonna let the resurrected captains do the dirty work. They won't have to be replaced with new bodies and souls too. Needs too much work. And he doesn't care about the third seats and below that. Why?"

"What about Matsumoto?"

Gin paused. "Rangiku? The same thing will happen, of course."

Tousen stopped his stride. "Aren't you and her childhood friends or something? Can you bear to see her end up like that?"

"That was in the past, Tousen. I don't really give a damn about what happens to her. If she dies, then she dies. She's just another girl, that's all. I'm not the one doing the deed in the first place. Hitsugaya will be. The fake Hitsugaya." Gin flicked off a fly which was buzzing around his ears, avoiding the gaze of his companion.

Tousen frowned. "If you say so. Come to think of it, all the captains who are dead are merely revived, and another soul put into them, right? What for?"

Gin's lips returned to their usual curves. "My my... Looks like an explanation is in order. I thought Aizen had confided in us about this before?"

"I didn't really understand what he meant."

"Fine fine. Let's see... When your soul is your own, and just your own, you are conscious of your own thoughts, your actions, and everything about you basically. But when a new soul is implanted into the body, the foreign elements of the intruder overrides the control that the original soul commands over its own body. And Aizen tampers with the soul that is inserted into the body as well, so he can directly control the soul through voice command. But to be extra safe, Aizen kills the host brain and body so that there's no chance of retaliation from the overwritten soul."

Tousen simply directed a look of confusion towards his partner.

Gin threw his hands up in exasperation. "I give up. It's not really important to us in the first place. Aizen and Kurotsuchi will handle that portion. All we need to do is to deliver the dead captains' bodies for implantation."

They resumed walking. "Wait, what about Hitsugaya? He's in Earthland, isn't he? How does Aizen resurrect him then?"

Gin sighed. "I thought we were already over that topic, Tousen."

"Just answer the question if you know the answer."

"As cold as always," muttered Gin. "Aizen just used the skin and other vital organs of another shinigami, and remade them into the shape of Hitsugaya. He's like a zombie. The other dead captains technically are too. Just that it's worse for the kid."

"So which shinigami did Aizen use for Hitsugaya?" Tousen asked curiously.

Gin twisted his lips into yet another smile. "Momo Hinamori. With Aizen's charisma, she got taken in so innocently. What a tragic end for them both. Then again, the real Hitsugaya wouldn't know, so it doesn't matter."

"But won't the other captains notice her disappearance then?"

"Nope. Aizen is her captain, after all. He just gave the excuse that Hinamori was embarking on a long term mission outside of Seireitei. Which, by the time she 'comes back', Seireitei would have fallen."

_"Kuchiki?! What the hell d'you think you're doing?! Stop!"_

Tousen's footsteps quickened in the direction of the voice. "That's her. What the hell is Byakuya Kuchiki doing here?"

Battle cries echoed throughout the area, and the sound of swords clinking against one another came as a response.

"Beats me," Gin hurried to match his pace. "But let's hurry."

_"Bankai: Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."_

Thousands of blades rose slowly above the trees, floating in midair. The emitted a purplish glow, where they stopped and stayed in position. Panicked screams travelled to the ears of the two captains, who were frozen to the ground.

Gin quickly recovered. "Well. I guess someone has helped us do our job. Convenient."

_"Kuchiki! Stop! You don't know what you're doing! PLEASE!"_

A deathly silence followed. Even the birds had stopped singing, the animals going mum. The pair had broken into a steady jog towards the levitating swords by then, their eyes not leaving the weapons.

_"Scatter."_

The swords plunged. They disappeared from view against the thick greenery. A hue of purple could be seen amidst the gaps of the trunks.

_"NOOOOOOOO!"_

Gasping for breath, the pair burst into an open arena, presumably the training grounds created for some of the captains and vice-captains to share amongst themselves to train and practice. They spotted two figures in the centre, where one was lying on the ground, not moving. The other stood by her, distracted by the entrance of Gin and Tousen, his zanpakuto already resting in its sheath.

As they reached Byakuya, the view of Soifon, Captain of the Second Division greeted them. Her sleeveless haori, or captain's uniform was in tatters. Most of it has been ripped apart. Gin prodded her motionless body a light kick. As she rolled over and laid on her back, the pieces of robe fell apart, fully exposing her naked body. Her womanly features weren't spared, as multiple lacerations filled her torso and lower body. Her privates could barely be seen as a pool of blood had spread from her face and lower body, which was also cut deeply.

Gin smirked, "Wow. I can barely recognize her. That sure was brutal."

Tousen, meanwhile, shot Byakuya a suspicious look. "What are you doing here, Kuchiki?" He demanded. "I was tasked to kill Soifon, not you."

"Aizen wanted to test out my functionality," Byakuya Kuchiki replied expressionlessly. "He wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong, so he requested that I hunt down Soifon. Apologies. I had no idea you were after her as well."

Gin laughed. "It's alright. No worries. Seems like Aizen will have nothing to worry about then."

Tousen ignored Gin's remark, and turned back to where the pair first appeared from.

"Oh, leaving already Tousen? That's fast. Your appearances lately have already been so rare the past few days. Why not stick around longer?"

The dark skinned captain had already reached the first layer of trees in the opposite direction. "Time is of the essence. I need to find Aizen. He gave me something else to do as well. He may as well not task me to this if Kuchiki here was going to settle it already… It's a waste of time."

"Always the productive guy, aren't you?"

Without answering, Tousen vanished into the vegetation. Byakuya stepped forward and knelt beside the mutilated body of Soifon, before lifting her up with two arms. "I need to go too, Ichimaru. I need to deliver this body to the lab for resurrection."

Gin chuckled softly. "Man, Aizen sure is a slave driver, making you busy even after death. Cya around."

Byakuya turned around and trailed the direction Tousen took, with the dead captain's blood dripping onto the grass with each step he took.

Gin sighed again. "I guess it's time to hunt down the fox then."

* * *

Dusk was approaching; the sun was setting below the line of hills on a path which the three Fairy Tail mages had taken just one day ago, but they were travelling on it once again, back to the village of Farnak to confront the village head, Destin, about the developments they had learned in the medicinal shop in the afternoon.

As the magical carriage rumbled, speeding on the straightened path, there wasn't much conversation between the three. They had gone without sleep for a day and a half, only taking short naps in between. Gray was the worst off, not having slept at all since he had to drive the vehicle. His eyes were drooping but he held on, looking wearily at the path ahead.

"Gray-san, maybe we should stop to take a break? You should rest for a while before continuing. You've been active for too long." Wendy's worried tone drifted over from the back.

"Well… If we didn't have to come all the way back, that would've been better, right? We already have the jewels. Besides, nothing seemed wrong with those people," He muttered. His voice was barely audible, and the passengers at the back had to lean forward to catch the gist of his complaints.

"Don't be an idiot. There were things which were clearly off. That womanly scent Destin had, and didn't you feel that he was directing most of his attention on just you? It was like as though he knows you personally," Hitsugaya tersely replied.

"Whatever. Probably just a coincidence. Let's just get this over and done with quickly and…" His head dropped forward, the first snore escaping from his half opened mouth.

"He's sleeping! We're gonna crash!" Wendy shrieked.

But all the vehicle did was to halt abruptly, causing their light bodies to be thrown out of their seats. Fortunately Hitsugaya managed to land on his backside, so the shock received was mostly alleviated by the absorption using his meaty parts. As he was about to sit up, a relatively lighter weight landed on his stomach, causing him to choke in surprise. His eyes flickered open to see Wendy's staring right back at him just a few inches away. He could feel the hot mist from her breath warming his cheeks. For a few seconds they remained in that position, with the blue haired girl sitting awkwardly on his abdomen, her face unmoving from his.

"Uhh, Wendy? My tummy's gonna cave in if you continue to sit on me like that."

Her face was flushed under the dim moonlight which was steadily taking over the role of the receding daylight. "S-Sorry. I'll get off now."

She quickly scrambled off him, her face still red.

Hitsugaya sat up, scratching his head. "How the heck are we supposed to get to Farnak now that Gray's knocked out?"

"Well... I guess we could walk. We're nearly there anyway. A five minutes' walk should do it," she replied, pointing over a clump of bushes which blocked the view of the desolate village, which Hitsugaya hadn't noticed before till now.

"Alright. Let's go then."

"What about Gray-san? We can't just leave him here..." She persisted hesitantly.

"We can't waste time," He answered impatiently. "He'll catch up with us when he wakes up. C'mon."

It was exactly the same as the night before, where they first visited the village to receive the job. Run-down huts filled the sector, with stray pieces of splintered wood, probably dislodged from the huts themselves, just laying aimlessly about the ground. Withered crops being whisked away by the air currents which were slowly intensifying as night fell, howling into their ears mercilessly.

"It seems like it's always quiet around here at night..." Wendy whispered, the wind drowning out her voice for Hitsugaya to catch her words properly.

They stepped up towards the hut which they met Destin in. Hitsugaya rapped on to the door thrice, while shouting, "Destin?! It's us, Hitsugaya and Wendy!"

No reply. A small bunch of hay which was carried by the gale flew through the air and smacked Hitsugaya right across his cheek. Wendy couldn't resist, and let out a tiny giggle.

"Destin?! Open up! It's Fairy Tail!"

"Maybe he's not home yet," Wendy spoke up.

"I guess so," Hitsugaya replied, glaring at the door, as if it owed him a favor of a lifetime.

"Maybe it's not such a good idea to come after-"

BANG.

"Hitsugaya-san, what in the world are you doing?!" Wendy squealed.

"Paying him a visit."

"B-But you can't just barge in like that!"

Hitsugaya exhaled a sigh. "I just did."

"B-B-B-But-"

He stepped into the dusty room. "C'mon Wendy. We're already inside. Let's just have a quick look around and leave. Nobody'll know."

Wendy timidly gave in. She sounded like a mouse, about to grab a load of cheese which was laid with a mousetrap. "Oh alright... But let's do this quickly..."

Their eyes scanned the dimly illuminated room, which was still lit by the single bulb dangling from the hay, which seemed to be on the verge of collapsing inwards. The howling wind raged against the thin walls, forcing the termite infested wood gaping with holes to creak heavily against the pressure.

"I'll check the bed," Wendy volunteered.

"I'll check the study table then."

Hitsugaya slid open the drawers, opened the small cupboards, checked behind and underneath the table itself, but all he could find was a portrait of Destin and an elderly woman beside him, both posing blissfully for the photo. For some reason, it reminded him of Hinamori once again. He shook his head to clear the thought.

"Found anything yet, Wendy?"

"Yes..." Her voice was soft.

He looked up sharply to where she was standing. She was rooted to the floor, unable to tear her eyes away from the dead body which lay hidden below the yellowing mattress of the bed.

The body reeked of decomposition; The person must've been dead for days without anyone realizing. Hitsugaya edged closer to the corpse to inspect his now, badly shaped features. Wrinkles, balding hair, and a limp leg. And of course, dried blood. All around the body.

"That's Destin-san... Isn't it? But... We were just talking to him here yesterday night! How is it that he's been dead for such a long time?!"

"I've no idea," He responded grimly. "We need to enter that facility to see what's really happening. We'll need Gray for this. For now, let's continue searching first. I'll check the other parts of the bed. You keep a lookout for anyone coming, alright?" He noticed that she had begun to look a little queasy after looking at such a horrible sight.

She nodded, and positioned herself beside the cracked windows, where she rested her head against and started staring towards the outside.

Gingerly, Hitsugaya heaved the body up and pushed it towards the corner of the room. The miasma of rotten flesh was starting to spread throughout the room rapidly. He made a mental note to finish up the investigation in the hut, before their noses dropped off. He lifted the second layer of the mattress, and his jaw dropped.

Laying below were two more dead bodies. Hitsugaya tussled the bedding out of the way, and analyzed the new remains. For these two, they've clearly been murdered. The wounds inflicted upon them had stayed on their reddish-blackened skin, where the blood spilt had dried up way before the blood from the dead body of Destin had.

He edged his face closer. One of the bodies had a tall, slim figure with black hair kept in an unusual, distinctive hairstyle, with a tuft of hair on top of his head jutting upwards and then curving frontwards. Which made Hitsugaya wonder how his hairstyle could still look so fresh even after being dead for so long.

The other body had a similar slim shape of a youngish man with orange hair, which was jutting backwards at the sides of his head. He has a sharp face, a prominent, flat and defined nose pointing downwards.

And they both had the Fairy Tail symbol marked on them.

"W-Wendy?" Hitsugaya managed to croak out. "I think you need to see this."

Wendy whipped around, surprised. She hadn't heard Hitsugaya stammer since meeting him on the first day. With a sense of foreboding, she returned to the mattress and viewed the new remains.

She clamped her hands over her mouth. Tears streamed out of her eyelids, but this time, she made no attempt to ebb its flow.

"Wendy? Who are they?" Hitsugaya questioned urgently.

Her voice was muffled over her covered mouth. "They're Fairy Tail mages. Jet and Droy."

* * *

**I apologize for the short chapter, but I'm having a writer's block. Anyways, do leave a review or PM to tell me how this chapter went. **

**Thanks for reading this. I really do appreciate the support.**

**Till next time, hopefully!**


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